Questions & Answers about Við förum til Spánar.
Why is the word for Spain written as Spánar instead of just Spánn?
The preposition til (to) always makes the noun that follows it take the genitive case. The basic dictionary word for Spain is Spánn, but its genitive form is Spánar.
The English translation says 'are going', but isn't förum just the present tense 'we go'?
Exactly! Icelandic doesn't have a direct equivalent to the English 'are going' or 'am doing'. You just use the simple present tense verb förum to mean both 'we go' and 'we are going'.
Why do we use til here instead of another word for 'to', like í or á?
When talking about traveling to a country as a destination, you almost always use til. Words like í (in/into) or á (on/onto) are often used for going to local places like buildings or towns, but countries usually require til.
How do you know to add -ar to make the genitive form of Spánn?
Spánn is a masculine noun. Adding -ar is one of the most common ways that masculine nouns change in the genitive case. You will see this -ar ending a lot when using til with masculine words!