Subjunctive

Subjunctive (Viðtenginarháttur)

The subjunctive mood in Icelandic can be expressed in different ways. it's used to express what someone might, could, would do etc.

To express possibilities or something happening conditionally, English mostly just uses the verb would. You can do that in Icelandic too.

Let's look at the simplest form, which happens to be constructed just like the English use of would – just add the infinitive.

All you need to memorize is the subjunctive conjugation of one single verb: munu. Here it is:

Ég myndi	I would
Þú myndir	you would
Hann/hún/það myndi	he/she/it would
Við myndum	we would
Þið mynduð	you (pl.) would
Þeir/þær/þau myndu	they/you (formal) would

Easier in English, admittedly, but once you get these down, simply add the infinitive.

Það myndi ég ekki gera.
I wouldn't do that.

Note that „ég mundi, þú mundir, hann mundi, við mundum, þið munduð, þær mundu“ is also correct, but the form myndi has been used more in the last years/decades.

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Would very often goes together with if. And for that, you're going to need a new tense of every verb. Still, it's not so bad to make.

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Another way to express possibilities or something happening conditionally is to use the actual subjunctive. Note that there is no helper phrase like would but the verb itself changes.

In Icelandic we have the present subjunctive (viðtengingarháttur nútíðar) used to express wishes, commands or encouragement.

Þú nýtur sýningarinnar. (Staðhæfing, enginn viðtengingarháttur)

You enjoy the show. (Statement, no subjunctive)

Now let's use the subjunctive.

Ég vona að þú njótir sýningarinnar.

I hope you will enjoy the show

Þú ferð út í búð ( You go to the store - plain statement)

Við eigum enga mjólk, nema þú farir út í búð.

We have no milk, unless you would go to the store.

Hundarnir koma lika með (The dogs come along too – plain statement)

Spyrðu Jökul hvort hundarnir komi líka með.

Ask Jökull whether the dogs will come along too.

Then we have the past subjunctive (viðtengingarháttur þátiðar) used to express possibility, uncertainty or to politely ask for something.

In some cases, you can simply take a verb's preterite form and add an umlaut. Lets's look at a few verbs hafa, geta, eiga, mega for example in infinitive, past and subjunctive forms.

hafa – hafði - hefði

geta – gat - gæti

eiga – átti – ætti

mega – mátti – mætti

vera – var - væri

Ef ég hefði meiri tíma, myndi ég fara.
If I had more time, I would go too.

Ef ég gæti synt, myndi ég fara í sjóinn

If I could swim, I would get into the sea

Note how the verb eiga can both mean have to and own

Ef hann ætti flugvél, myndi hann fljúga.
If he had (owned) an airplane, he would fly.

Ef ég ætti ekki að vinna, myndi ég fara á ströndina

If I didn't have to (shouldn't) work, I'd go to the beach

The other form of the subjunctive skips using the munu verb, equivalent to the would in English.

Here are examples of how you can use either form:

Ég myndi fara ef ég gæti

Ég færi ef ég gæti

(I would go if I could)

Ég myndi hafa tíma ef ég þyrfti ekki að vinna

Ég hefði tíma ef ég þyrfti ekki að vinna

(I would have time if I didn't have to work)

Ég myndi þurfa að fara í búð ef ég ætti ekki mjólk nú þegar

Ég þyrfti að fara í búð ef ég ætti ekki mjólk nú þegar

(I would need to go to a store if if I didn't have (own) milk already)

Ég myndi eiga mjólk ef ég hefði verið búinn að fara í búðina

Ég ætti mjólk ef ég hefði verið búinn að fara í búðina

(I would have (own) milk if I had already gone to the store)

Note how in certain cases, English actually works in a fairly similar way to Icelandic:

Ef ég myndi vera yfirmaður, hefði ég meira vald

If I would be a boss, I'd have more power.

Ef ég væri yfirmaður, hefði ég meira vald
If I were a boss, I would have more power.

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To express possibilities in the past, you can generally use „hefði“ (would have)

Ég hefði farið í skóla þegar ég var yngri, ef ég hefði ekki þurft að vinna

I would have gone to school in the past, if I wouldn't have had to work