Breakdown of Þegar ég var ungur vildi ég verða flugmaður.
vera
to be
ég
I
ungur
young
vilja
to want (to will, be willing)
Questions & Answers about Þegar ég var ungur vildi ég verða flugmaður.
How is the past tense of the modal verb vilja formed here?
The verb vilja (to want) takes the past tense ending -di for the first person, making it ég vildi (I wanted). The -ja at the end of the dictionary form drops off completely before adding this past tense ending.
Why does the second half of the sentence say vildi ég instead of ég vildi?
This is a great example of the V2 (verb-second) rule! The entire first clause (Þegar ég var ungur) counts as the first piece of information. Because the main verb must always be in the second position, vildi steps in next, pushing the subject ég behind it.
Why is the adjective for young ungur instead of ung?
Adjectives must agree with the gender of the person they describe. ungur is the masculine singular form, showing that the speaker is male. A female speaker would drop the ending and say Þegar ég var ung.
Why use verða instead of vera in this sentence?
While vera means to be, verða means to become. When talking about a future profession or a new state that you transition into, Icelandic prefers verða. Also, notice that verða stays in its infinitive (dictionary) form because the modal verb vildi is already doing the work of showing the past tense.