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Ætla læknar að vinna í dag?

Ætla læknar að vinna í dag?
Are doctors going to work today?
From Lesson 27:Plural nouns (-ar, -ir, -ur)·Icelandic

Questions & Answers about Ætla læknar að vinna í dag?

How does the word for "doctor" change to become the plural læknar in this sentence?
The singular word for a doctor is læknir. To make this masculine noun plural, we drop the -ir ending and add -ar, giving us læknar. Notice that this is a bare noun without a "the" ending attached, so it simply means "doctors" and not "the doctors".
Why do we use the verb form ætla instead of ætlar?
The verb always has to match its subject. Because læknar is a plural subject (they), we use the plural form of the verb, which is ætla. If the sentence was about a single doctor, we would use the singular form: Ætlar læknir að vinna í dag?
How do the words ætla að vinna work together to mean "are going to work"?
The verb ætla literally means "to intend" or "to plan", and it is the most common way to talk about future plans in Icelandic. Just like in English, we use the connecting word að (to) before the action verb vinna (work). So, intending to work translates naturally as "going to work".
What is the literal meaning of í dag?
It literally translates to "in day". Icelandic often uses the word í (in) followed by a time word to describe when something happens today. You will see this exact same pattern in phrases like í kvöld which means "tonight" (literally "in evening").

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