Breakdown of Mig langar í stærra sjónvarp.
mig
me (acc)
langa
to want
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
sjónvarpið
the television
stærri
bigger
Questions & Answers about Mig langar í stærra sjónvarp.
Why is the word for "bigger" stærra when the word for "big" is stór?
Stór has an irregular comparative form. Instead of just adding a regular ending, the root vowel changes from ó to æ (a common type of vowel shift in Icelandic). This makes the base comparative word stærri.
If the comparative is stærri, why does this sentence use stærra?
In the comparative degree, Icelandic adjectives are actually much simpler and only have two endings: -i and -a. You use -a exclusively for neuter singular nouns. Since sjónvarp (TV) is a neuter noun in the singular, stærri becomes stærra.
Why does this sentence start with Mig (me) instead of Ég (I)?
The verb langa (to want) is an impersonal verb. It always forces the person who wants something into the accusative case. So instead of saying "I want", the Icelandic structure is more like "it longs me", which is why you must use the accusative pronoun Mig.
Why is the preposition í used before the TV?
When you want a physical object, the verb langa must be paired with the preposition í. Together, að langa í means "to want [something]". The preposition í then causes the following noun phrase (stærra sjónvarp) to be in the accusative case.
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