# Icelandic: þykja, virðast, líta út



## Gavril

Sælir íslenskumælendur,

Is there a difference between the following sentences, in terms of how certain the speaker  feels about what he/she is saying?

_Mér þykir að það muni rigna á morguninn._

_Mér virðist að það muni rigna á morguninn._

_Það lítur út að það muni rigna á morguninn._

Also, does _þykja_ imply that the speaker's claim is based on internal feelings, rather than observations?


Margar þakkir!


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## sindridah

Yes you're right about þykir, but it doesn't work here. I guess it has to concern another person or something like that.

*Það virðist ætla rigna á morgun*

*Það lítur út fyrir að það muni rigna á morgun*

These two sentence shows really the same "emotions"  about what he/she is saying ( if there are any?   )


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## klandri

sindridah said:


> Yes you're right about þykir, but it doesn't work here.



Well it sounds right to me. Although it's something I'd never say it sounds just fine if you're reading a 50 year old book. Or at least I see nothing wrong with it...

Edit: And maybe you know it but I feel obligated to point out that "Margar þakkir" is not used in Icelandic. We say "þúsund þakkir" or "thousund thanks" but we do not, unlike Danes for example, say "margar þakkir".


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## kepulauan

I'd avoid using "þykja" before "að".

Mér þykir hún falleg
Gjaldmiðillinn þykir styrkur

I can't rule out that you example is correct, but it hardly modern speech.


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## NoMoreMrIceGuy

In the original poster's first example, _þykir_ doesn't work because it's normally used to express taste not an educated guess.


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## Roq

You could say "mér þykir líklegt að...." or "mér finnst líklegt að....". It's the same as saying "I find it likely that....". Saying "I find it will rain tomorrow" sounds almost as incomplete to me as "mér þykir að það muni rigna á morgun". You are right about "mér þykir" referring to an internal feeling. The examples sidridah gave are better  options in my opinion, but perhaps that is only a matter of taste.


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## Nemabrincar

_Hi. Just wanted to make a few observations on these sentences:

*Mér þykir **að það muni rigna á morguninn.*_

Mér þykir would not be used in this context(atleast in modern icelandic.), but  rather in one where one speaks his opinions/feelings, while in this  context you are making a guess based on "how things are looking". Also,  as people have pointed out it is rarely used in speech, although I think  it is beautiful.

"Mér þykir þú fallegur."
"Þykir þér gott að drekka kaffi á morgnana?
*ALSO*, just for fun, I believe you could use it in this way:  "Mér þykir ætla að rigna á morgun"  (Don't recommend it)



*Mér virðist að það muni rigna á morguninn.*

 It sounds strange in this sentence(or just archaic), because I normally  don't use it in this way. If I use it, I usually add a diffrent  proposition and/or an auxiliary verb(or simply without anything). But I  think it's falling out of use, "mér sýnist" being preferred in alot of  cases.

Mér virðist hann kunna mjög vel á bíla.
Mér virðist það ætla að rigna á morgun. (á að nota viðtengingarhátt í þessu tilviki? ætla/ætli)
Það virðist ætla að rigna á morgun.
Mér virðist sem það muni rigna á morgun. (sounds archaic/literary)

_Það lítur út að það muni rigna á morguninn._

I believe this is correct, but as someone wrote above, people normally put "fyrir" in there

Það lítur út fyrir að það muni rigna á *morgun*.


I think in this situation I would say this:

"Mér sýnist það ætla að rigna á morgun" (ætla/ætli?)
"Það lítur út fyrir að það _eigi eftir að(muni_) rigna á morgun"
"Það virðist sem það eigi eftir að rigna á morgun"


Cheers!


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## Gavril

Sæll Nemabrincar

(Ég giska að þú sért karlmaður ("sæll") því að þú skrifaðir "obrigado" í fyrri færslu þinni. )



Nemabrincar said:


> _Hi. Just wanted to make a few observations on these sentences:
> 
> *Mér þykir **að það muni rigna á morguninn.*_
> 
> Mér þykir would not be used in this context(atleast in modern icelandic.), but  rather in one where one speaks his opinions/feelings, while in this  context you are making a guess based on "how things are looking". Also,  as people have pointed out it is rarely used in speech, although I think  it is beautiful.
> 
> "Mér þykir þú fallegur."
> "Þykir þér gott að drekka kaffi á morgnana?
> *ALSO*, just for fun, I believe you could use it in this way:  "Mér þykir ætla að rigna á morgun"  (Don't recommend it)



Would it be more acceptable to say "Mér þykir ætla að rigna" than, for example, 

"Mér þykir munu rigna" or
"Mér þykir verða að rigna"?




> *Mér virðist að það muni rigna á morguninn.*
> 
> It sounds strange in this sentence(or just archaic), because I normally  don't use it in this way. If I use it, I usually add a diffrent  proposition and/or an auxiliary verb(or simply without anything). But I  think it's falling out of use, "mér sýnist" being preferred in alot of  cases.
> 
> Mér virðist hann kunna mjög vel á bíla.
> Mér virðist það ætla að rigna á morgun. (á að nota viðtengingarhátt í þessu tilviki? ætla/ætli)



Do you mean _Mér virðist það ætla*r* að rigna á morgun_? Or, is _ætla_ an infinitive in this case?

Takk


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## Nemabrincar

Hæmm x)



> Would it be more acceptable to say "Mér þykir ætla að rigna" than, for example,
> 
> "Mér þykir munu rigna" or
> "Mér þykir verða að rigna"?



Ég er ekki lengur viss um hvort þetta er rétt setning... mér finnst eins og ég hafi heyrt þetta áður, en hún hljómar skringilega. Hverju sem því líður þá mæli ég ekki með því að nota hana..

Næsta  setning hljómar líka skringilega og ég mæli alls ekki með henni.  Seinasta er enn verri og gjörsamlega óskiljanleg, sérstaklega því að  sagnorðið "verða", í þessu tilviki, lýsir ástandi í framtíðinni... Þetta  væri eins og að segja "It will be raining tomorrow" eða kannski frekar  "Estará lloviendo a mañana", nema miklu verra á íslensku.

Ef þú vilt læra "nútímatalmáta", eða læra að tala eins  og venjulegt fólk talar, þá mæli ég með því að þú einbeitir þér að  öðrum sagnorðum. Gott að skilja þetta sagnorð og kunna að nota orðtök  þess, eins og t.d. "Mér þykir vænt um þig" (I care about you / I love  you) og "*Mér þykir leitt að* ég hafi ekki komið" (I am sorry that I did  not come), en venjulega er það lítið notað.

Þú ert miklu líklegri til að sjá þetta sagnorð notað í gömlum textum og bókum, sérstaklega íslendingasögunum, en það er nánast orðið annað tungumál út af fyrir sig.

In english:

I'm nolonger sure about whether this sentence is correct or no... I feel  like I've heard it before, but it sounds strange. Either way I don't  recommend you to use it..

The  next sentence sounds weird aswell and I strongly recommend you against  using it. The last one is even worse and makes absolutely no sense,  especially because the verb "verða", in this case, decribes a state(of  being) in the future... It would be like saying "It will be raining  tomorrow" or perhaps "Estará lloviendo a mañana", exept even worse in  icelandic.

If you want to learn a  "modern way of speaking", or learn how to speak like everyday people,  then I suggest that you focus on other verbs. It's good to understand  this one and know its expressions, like for example "Mér þykir vænt um  þig" and "*Mér þykir leitt að* ég hafi ekki komið", but in itself it is  rarely used.

You are much more likely to come across this verb being used in old texts and books, especially in the icelandic sagas, but that has practically become a seprate language all on its own.




> *
> Do you mean Mér virðist það ætlar að rigna á morgun? Or, is ætla an infinitive in this case?
> 
> Takk*



I'm ashamed to say that I don't really know the rules regarding this. Personally I would put the infinitive. The question for me is if it is the infinitive or the subjunctive, but never the indicative, like you put in the phrase above. 

Cheers!


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## Nemabrincar

Also, I want to warn you against using "ætla" too much. The verb implies an intent to do something, which is hard for an inanimate object or situations to have. But for some reason we use it in cases like this, and thereby giving a bit of a personality to the weather...  It is used in more cases, and usually as a more colloquial future. It's almost like giving "destiny" a will, if you know what I mean...   

"Mér sýnist það ætla að rigna"
"Það virðist ætla að verða erfitt að ná þessum ketti" (mouthful of auxiliary verbs, as modern icelandic is famous for)

or

"It looks that it will _result_ in rain" (Is it possible to say "It looks that..."?)
"It seems that it will _result_ a hard task to catch that cat"

(Note that I'm using "result" to catch the meaning of the phrase above. It's in no way the translation. For example, the first sentence would be "It looks to me that it's intending to rain".)

Anyway, a friend of mine has this problem, does not know when to stop using "ætla". It sounds strange. I think that there is lacking alot of material to teach & learn icelandic properly, and one thing that is unclear to people are the auxiliary verbs. In this case they have "ætla", "munu", "skulu", "verða" and "eiga eftir að" (and god knows what more) all rattling around in their heads.

Cheers!


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## Gavril

Nemabrincar said:


> Also, I want to warn you against using "ætla" too much. The verb implies an intent to do something, which is hard for an inanimate object or situations to have. But for some reason we use it in cases like this, and thereby giving a bit of a personality to the weather...  It is used in more cases, and usually as a more colloquial future. It's almost like giving "destiny" a will, if you know what I mean...
> 
> "Mér sýnist það ætla að rigna"
> "Það virðist ætla að verða erfitt að ná þessum ketti" (mouthful of auxiliary verbs, as modern icelandic is famous for)
> 
> or
> 
> "It looks that it will _result_ in rain" (Is it possible to say "It looks that..."?)



Not in standard English: you would say, for example, _It __looks as though _(formal) or _It looks like _(colloquial).



> "It seems that it will _result_ a hard task to catch that cat"



This would be fine if you replaced _result _with _turn out_: _It will turn out to be a hard task ..._


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