Mexican Spanish to Icelandic: a craving is different from an impression
Antojarse does not always express wanting something
A Mexican Spanish sentence with antojarse may express a desire for food or an activity, but it can also present an impression about a situation. Before translating into Icelandic, decide whether the speaker wants something to happen or judges something to be a certain way. Those intentions require different meanings even when the Spanish verb remains unchanged.
El Colegio de México’s dictionary distinguishes the craving or desire reading from a parecer reading, illustrated by impressions about a difficult future or inconsistent conclusions. It separately records doing whatever one feels like. These are complete contextual readings, not a single instruction to insert a target verb meaning want.
For an original outing discussion, finding a picnic appealing differs from finding the proposed route difficult. The first can motivate choosing the picnic; the second evaluates the route. A translation that makes the speaker want a difficult route would reverse the purpose of the comment, even if it preserves the words picnic and difficult elsewhere.
Icelandic distinguishes the constructions around wanting and judging
Þorbjörg Halldórsdóttir’s teaching grammar illustrates langa with both a desired item and a desired activity. It lists langa among verbs taking an accusative subject and finnast among those taking a dative subject. Its comparison includes mig langar and mér finnst. These subject forms belong to different constructions rather than identifying a different speaker.
The grammar also shows that the verb stays in third person in the constructions it labels impersonal, while the subject’s case form identifies the experiencer. Do not conclude that a first-person Spanish feeling has become somebody else’s experience merely because the Icelandic verb does not resemble an ordinary first-person agreement pattern.
In an original course enquiry, a writer can want to join a workshop while finding its timetable inconvenient. Keep both attitudes attached to the writer, but do not collapse them into one desire. The inconvenience explains a scheduling concern; it does not establish that the writer dislikes the subject or has decided against attending.
Recognise variation without losing the original attitude
Þráinsson and Árnason’s discussion of Icelandic dialects documents variation between accusative and dative forms with verbs including langa. That evidence cautions against treating every encountered alternative as proof that the speaker’s identity changed. The teaching grammar supplies a clear reference pattern; the dialect discussion establishes that real usage also varies.
For the outing example, clarify whether the Spanish writer expresses a present appetite, suggests a possible activity or assesses a practical obstacle. An appetite for food does not itself order a meal, and an appealing activity is not a confirmed booking. Keep any invitation, decision or reservation confirmation in its own clause.
When saving the Icelandic result, record whether it expresses wanting, an impression or a decision. Keep the person experiencing that attitude with the sentence. On reuse, check the intended attitude before adjusting a pronoun or replacing a verb. A grammatically tidy sentence can still misrepresent the source if it turns a judgement about difficulty into a wish for difficulty.
Language references