Breakdown of Ég þarf að vinna á miðvikudaginn.
ég
I
að
to (infinitive marker)
á
onto / on / in (static location) / on (a day of the week)
vinna
to work (general labor, to do work)
þurfa
to need
miðvikudagur
Wednesday
Questions & Answers about Ég þarf að vinna á miðvikudaginn.
Why is it á miðvikudaginn (accusative) here instead of the dative case?
In Icelandic, we use á + the accusative case to talk about a specific upcoming day like this Wednesday. If you wanted to say you work on Wednesdays in general as a repeating habit, you would use á + the dative case, usually in the plural: á miðvikudögum.
Why does the sentence use the definite suffix -inn on the word for Wednesday?
When referring to a specific upcoming day of the week, Icelandic adds the definite article to the end of the word. So á miðvikudaginn literally means on the Wednesday, but it translates perfectly to this Wednesday in English.
Why is there an að before vinna?
The word að is the infinitive marker, just like the word to in English. When you combine two verbs like need to work, the second verb stays in its base dictionary form. So you get þarf (need) + að (to) + vinna (work).
Does the verb þurfa (to need) force the subject into a special case?
No, þurfa takes the standard nominative case for its subject. That is why we use ég (I) here, unlike some other Icelandic verbs expressing wants or needs that force you to use the special words for me like mig or mér.
Learn Ég þarf að vinna á miðvikudaginn and more in Icelandic
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free