mig vantar

Needing (Mig Vantar)

Level 2

Mig vantar means I need: Mig vantar penna (I need a pen). The person is in the accusative, not the nominative.

How It Works

The forms. Only the pronoun changes. The verb stays vantar:

  • mig vantar (I need)
  • þig vantar (you need)
  • hann / hana / það vantar (he / she / it needs)
  • okkur vantar (we need)
  • ykkur vantar (you all need)
  • þá / þær / þau vantar (they need)

These are the accusative pronouns, the same ones you use for direct objects. A noun is in the accusative too: Kennarann vantar stól (The teacher needs a chair). The past tense is vantaði for everyone: Mig vantaði hjálp.

The thing you need. It is in the accusative as well: Mig vantar penna, Okkur vantar mjólk. So both the person and the thing are accusative.

Questions. The verb comes first and the pronoun follows it: Vantar þig eitthvað? (Do you need anything?) Hvað vantar þig? (What do you need?)

Something is missing. vanta can also mean that something is missing, with það or with no person at all: Það vantar salt í súpuna (The soup needs salt). Hér vantar einn stól (One chair is missing here).

Not mér vantar. Many Icelanders say mér vantar in casual speech, with the dative. This is called þágufallssýki, and it is not standard. Teachers correct it, and careful speakers and writers use mig vantar. Learn the standard form.

Needing to do something. To say you need to do something, the everyday verb is þurfa að: Ég þarf að fara heim (I need to go home). vanta is mostly used with a thing. It is one of several verbs with a dative or accusative subject.

Examples (6)

  1. Mig vantar penna.

    I need a pen.

    Word by Word: Me lacks pen.

  2. Okkur vantar mjólk.

    We need milk.

    Word by Word: Us lacks milk.

  3. Hvað vantar þig?

    What do you need?

    Word by Word: What lacks you?

  4. Kennarann vantar stól.

    The teacher needs a chair.

    Word by Word: The-teacher lacks chair.

    kennarann is the accusative of kennarinn, and stól is the accusative of stóll.

  5. Það vantar salt í súpuna.

    The soup needs salt.

    Word by Word: It lacks salt in the-soup.

    Here vanta means that something is missing. There is no person, so það fills the first place.

  6. Mig vantaði hjálp í gær.

    I needed help yesterday.

    Word by Word: Me lacked help yesterday.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the dative mér instead of the accusative mig.

    Mér vantar penna.
    Mig vantar penna.

    vanta takes the accusative: mig, þig, okkur. Mér vantar is common in casual speech, but it is not standard and is corrected in school and in writing.

  • Using a normal nominative subject, as in English "I need".

    Ég vanta penna.
    Mig vantar penna.

    The person is not a normal subject with vanta. Put the person in the accusative and keep the verb as vantar.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

mig vantarLevel 2Needing (Mig Vantar)

Learn This First

mig vantar builds on oblique subjects.

Words in This Pattern

mig vantarvantamigþigokkur