Learn Icelandic: Barnið ætlar að sofa bráðum. - The child is going to sleep soon.

The verb ætla literally means 'to intend' or 'to plan'. In Icelandic, there is no built-in future tense. Instead, we use a conjugated form of ætla (here, ætlar for 'it') followed by að and the infinitive of the main verb (sofa) to say what someone is 'going to' do.

Why do we need the word 'að' before 'sofa'?

When you use ætla to say you are going to do an action, it must connect to the next verb with the infinitive marker að. It works exactly like the 'to' in the English phrase 'going to sleep' (ætlar að sofa). If you leave it out, it sounds just as broken as saying 'The child is going sleep' in English.

Why does the sentence use 'Barnið' instead of just 'barn'?

In Icelandic, the word for 'the' is usually attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word. Barn is a neuter noun meaning 'child'. When we add the neuter 'the' ending -ið, it becomes Barnið, which means 'the child'.

Is the word order for 'bráðum' flexible?

Bráðum means 'soon'. Just like in English, time adverbs that tell us when an action happens naturally sit right at the end of a simple sentence like this one. You could put it at the start for strong emphasis (Bráðum ætlar barnið að sofa), but putting it at the end is the most natural, standard order.