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Vinurinn ætlar kannski ekki að dansa í kvöld.

Vinurinn ætlar kannski ekki að dansa í kvöld.
The friend is maybe not going to dance tonight.
From Lesson 20:Expressing intentions (ætla að)·Icelandic

Questions & Answers about Vinurinn ætlar kannski ekki að dansa í kvöld.

Why is there an að before dansa?
This sentence uses the construction ætla + að + infinitive to talk about future plans. Here, ætlar (is going to) is followed by að (to) and the dictionary form of the verb dansa (dance).
Why do kannski and ekki come between ætlar and að dansa?
In Icelandic, the conjugated verb (here, ætlar) must stay in the second position of the sentence. Adverbs like kannski (maybe) and ekki (not) usually come immediately after it, pushing the rest of the action (að dansa) further back.
How does the word vinurinn mean "the friend"?
Icelandic doesn't have a separate word for "the". Instead, it attaches a suffix to the end of the noun. The base word is vinur (friend), and adding the masculine ending -inn makes it vinurinn (the friend).
How does í kvöld translate to "tonight"?
The literal translation is "in evening" (í means "in" and kvöld means "evening"). Together, they form the standard Icelandic phrase for "tonight" or "this evening".

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