Icelandic Grammar List

The word for the is attached to the end of the noun: hestur → hesturinn, kona → konan, hús → húsið. In the plural: hestarnir, konurnar, húsin. The i drops after an unstressed vowel: konan.

After a vowel, pp, tt and kk are said with a short h before the consonant. The same breath comes before p, t or k followed by l or n, as in epli and vatn.

An adjective changes to match its noun. After vera: Hann er góður, Hún er góð, Það er gott; in the plural góðir, góðar, góð. The neuter singular usually ends in -t: stórt, nýtt, kalt.

hæ and halló mean hi, góðan daginn means good morning or hello, gott kvöld means good evening, and góða nótt means good night. Say bless, bæ or sjáumst when you leave.

The letter f has three sounds. It is f at the start of a word and in ff, v between vowels and at the end of a word, and p between a vowel and l or n.

Vowel length is not written, but the spelling shows it. A stressed vowel is long before one consonant and usually short before two: koma has a long o and komma a short one.

A last name usually says whose child you are: Jón Einarsson is Einar's son and Guðrún Einarsdóttir is Einar's daughter. People go by their first name.

There is no word for a: bók means a book, and Þetta er bók means This is a book. The is an ending: bókin.

Each noun is masculine, feminine or neuter, like hestur (m), kona (f) and hús (n). Learn the gender with the noun, because many other words agree with it.

fimm, sex, sjö, átta, níu, tíu, ellefu, tólf, þrettán, fjórtán, fimmtán, sextán, sautján, átján, nítján and tuttugu stay the same with every noun and in every case.

Each of the numbers one to four has a masculine, feminine and neuter form: tveir menn, tvær konur, tvö börn. When you simply count, use the masculine: einn, tveir, þrír, fjórir.

Masculine nouns often take -ar (hestar) or -ir (gestir), feminine nouns -ir (borgir), -ar (sýningar) or -ur (konur), and most neuter nouns take no ending, though a stem a changes to ö: hús → hús, barn → börn, land → lönd.

Many common verbs change their vowel in the singular: fara → ég fer, þú ferð, hún fer; taka → ég tek, þú tekur; koma → ég kem, þú kemur; sjá → ég sé, þú sérð. The plural goes back to the infinitive vowel, with a → ö before -um: við förum, við tökum, við komum.

Verbs like tala keep a in their endings: ég tala, þú talar, hún talar, við tölum, þið talið, þau tala. Before the u of -um, a in the stem changes to ö: tala → tölum, kalla → köllum.

Verbs like læra use i-endings: ég læri, þú lærir, hún lærir, við lærum, þið lærið, þau læra. gera, heyra, keyra, segja and kenna work the same way: ég geri, ég segi.

Every Icelandic word is stressed on its first syllable, however long it is. In compounds, each later part gets a lighter stress on its own first syllable.

Words change form in four cases: nominative, accusative, dative and genitive. hestur (horse) becomes hest, hesti and hests.

The Icelandic alphabet has 32 letters. It adds ð, þ, æ, ö and six accented vowels, and it leaves out c, q, w and z except in foreign names and loanwords.

The finite verb always comes second in a statement. Ég fer heim í dag becomes Í dag fer ég heim when í dag comes first.

At the start of a word, the h in hl, hr and hn is not said as a separate sound. It makes the l, r or n breathy and voiceless. hj sounds like the h in huge.

Before ng and nk, plain vowels change their sound: a sounds like á, e like ei, i and y like í, u like ú and ö like au. The spelling does not change.

A yes/no question starts with the verb and the subject comes next: Talar þú íslensku? Er þetta kaffi? Kemur Jón í kvöld?

Ask why with af hverju or hvers vegna: Af hverju ertu að læra íslensku? Answer with af því að: Af því að mig langar að búa hér.

af því að gives a reason: Ég er heima af því að ég er veikur. The verb still comes before ekki in the reason clause. As a short answer, Af því bara means "just because".

Afsakið means excuse me and gets someone's attention or apologizes politely. Fyrirgefðu means sorry, and því miður means unfortunately: Afsakið, hvar er klósettið? Því miður veit ég það ekki.

The dictionary form of a verb usually ends in -a and is introduced by að: að tala (to speak), að borða (to eat), að fara (to go). Mig langar að fara. Það er gaman að lesa.

Búa means to live somewhere: ég bý, þú býrð, hún býr, við búum. Ég bý í Reykjavík. Hvar býrðu?

eiga is how Icelandic says you own something or have family, friends or pets: Ég á bíl. Hún á tvö börn. Its present forms are á, átt, á, eigum, eigið, eiga.

Put ekki right after the finite verb: Ég skil ekki. Hún er ekki heima. A short pronoun object comes first: Ég skil það ekki.

en means but: Ég er þreyttur en ánægður. Hún vill koma en hún getur það ekki. After a negative, "not this but that" uses heldur, and after a comparative en means than.

þú joins the verb before it: ert þú → ertu, vilt þú → viltu, talar þú → talarðu, hefur þú → hefurðu. These joined forms are standard in speech and writing.

eða joins choices, as in Kaffi eða te? It links words, phrases or whole sentences and does not change the word order. For "either ... or", put annaðhvort before the first choice.

frá means from and always takes the dative: frá Íslandi, frá mér, bréf frá mömmu (a letter from Mom). With til it gives a range: frá níu til fimm.

In everyday speech, Icelandic has no single word for please. Gerðu svo vel means here you are or go ahead. Requests are made polite with a question: Má ég fá vatn? Viltu hjálpa mér? In writing, vinsamlegast means please.

hafa is irregular in the singular: ég hef, þú hefur, hún hefur, við höfum, þið hafið, þau hafa. Use it for things like time and interest, and in Hvernig hefurðu það? Ownership and family use eiga instead.

hans (his), hennar (her), okkar (our), ykkar (your, to several people) and þeirra (their) are the genitive forms of the personal pronouns. They never change form and usually follow a noun with the article: bíllinn hans, húsið hennar.

heim is for going home (Ég fer heim) and heima is for being at home (Ég er heima). From home is að heiman. Heima hjá mér means at my place.

Use heita to say what someone or something is called: Ég heiti Anna, Hann heitir Jón. Ask Hvað heitirðu? and Hvað heitir þetta á íslensku?

Icelandic spells many words with hv, and most speakers say it as kv: hvað, hvar, hver, hvalur. A small number of speakers keep an older breathy hv sound, which is also correct.

hvar = where (at), hvert = where to, hvaðan = where from: Hvar býrðu? Hvert ertu að fara? Hvaðan ertu?

hvað means what: Hvað er þetta? Hvað kostar þetta? Hvað ertu að gera? Before a noun, use hvaða: Hvaða bók?

Hvað segirðu? (literally, what do you say?) and Hvernig hefurðu það? ask how someone is. Common answers are Allt gott (all good), Ég segi allt fínt and Ég hef það gott.

hvenær asks when: Hvenær kemur strætó? Hvenær opnar búðin? Hvenær áttu afmæli? For when in a statement, use þegar.

hver means who: Hver er þetta? It changes with case: Hvern sástu? (Who did you see?) Með hverjum? (With whom?) Hvers bíll er þetta? (Whose car is this?)

hvernig means how or what kind: Hvernig hefurðu það? Hvernig segir maður þetta á íslensku? Hvernig bíll er þetta?

hér and hérna mean here; þar and þarna mean there: Ég bý hér. Klósettið er þarna. For movement, use hingað (to here) and þangað (to there).

já is yes and nei is no. Say jú for yes after a negative question: Ertu ekki svangur? Jú, ég er svangur.

K and g get a y glide before front vowels, as in kenna and gefa. Between vowels g turns soft, as in dagur and allt í lagi.

Koma frá means to come from, and frá puts the country in the dative: Ég kem frá Póllandi (Pólland). Hún kemur frá Spáni (Spánn). Hvaðan kemur þú?

Double ll usually sounds like tl, as in fjall. After an accented vowel or a vowel pair, nn sounds like tn, as in steinn. rl and rn also get a t sound, as in Karl and barn.

mega gives or asks for permission and takes a verb without að: ég má, þú mátt, hún má, við megum. Má ég koma inn? With ekki it forbids: Hér má ekki reykja.

með + dative means together with or using: Komdu með mér. kaffi með mjólk. með + accusative means bringing or taking something along: Hún kom með kökuna (She brought the cake).

Direct objects use the accusative: mig (me), þig (you), hann (him), hana (her). Ég elska þig means I love you.

With langa, the person who wants is in the accusative and the verb stays langar: mig langar, þig langar, hana langar, okkur langar. Mig langar í kaffi. Mig langar að fara til Íslands.

minn, mín, mitt (my) and þinn, þín, þitt (your) take the gender and number of the thing owned, not of the owner. They normally follow a noun with the attached article: bíllinn minn, taskan þín, húsið mitt.

mjög (very) goes before adjectives and adverbs: mjög gott, mjög kalt, mjög vel. In everyday speech rosalega and ótrúlega are common too. To say "a lot" or "very many", add mikið or margir: mjög mikið, mjög margir.

Use Má ég fá ...? or Ég ætla að fá ... to order and ask for things. The thing you ask for is in the accusative: Má ég fá reikninginn? Ég ætla að fá kaffi og kleinu.

mér, þér, honum, henni and þeim are dative pronouns. You need them after many verbs and prepositions: Komdu með mér. Ég hjálpa honum.

finnast gives your opinion, with the person in the dative: mér finnst, þér finnst, honum finnst. Mér finnst kaffi gott (I like coffee). Hvað finnst þér? (What do you think?)

og (and) joins words and sentences: kaffi og te; Ég bý í Reykjavík og vinn í Kópavogi. In a list there is no comma before og, and it also links numbers: tuttugu og einn.

Greetings built on sæll (happy) and blessaður (blessed) change with the person you greet: Komdu sæll to a man, Komdu sæl to a woman, Sæl öll to a group. Goodbye works the same way: Vertu blessaður, Vertu blessuð.

Takk and takk fyrir mean thanks, takk kærlega means thank you very much, and takk fyrir mig thanks a host after a meal or visit. Answer with ekkert að þakka (don't mention it). After a meal, the host says verði þér að góðu.

Language names end in -a but take -u after verbs like tala and læra: íslenska → Ég tala íslensku. Talarðu ensku? Ég er að læra pólsku. They are written with a small letter.

til means to and takes the genitive: Ég fer til Reykjavíkur. Við förum til Íslands. Hún fór til læknis (to the doctor). It also means "for" someone: Þetta bréf er til þín.

vera means to be: ég er, þú ert, hún er, við erum, þið eruð, þau eru. Ég er kennari means I am a teacher.

vera að + infinitive shows an action in progress: Ég er að lesa. Hvað ertu að gera? It is not used with verbs of state or knowing, such as vita, eiga, kunna, þekkja or búa.

vera með + accusative is the everyday way to say you have something with you, or have an illness or a feature: Ertu með síma? Ég er með hausverk. Hún er með blá augu.

vilja means to want: ég vil, þú vilt, hún vill, við viljum, þið viljið, þau vilja. A verb follows it without að: Ég vil fara heim. Viltu kaffi?

við (we), þið (you all), and þeir, þær or þau for they. A group of men and women is always þau.

á + dative means on or at: á borðinu, á Íslandi, á kaffihúsi. á + accusative means onto or to, with movement: Settu bókina á borðið. It also gives languages: á íslensku.

The accented vowels á, é, í, ó, ú and ý are separate letters with their own sounds. The accent never marks stress.

æ sounds like the English word eye. ei and ey share one sound, like ay in day. au starts as ö and glides into i, a sound English does not have.

ætla að + infinitive is the everyday way to talk about plans: Ég ætla að fara til Akureyrar. Hvað ætlarðu að gera um helgina? ætla follows the tala pattern: ætla, ætlar, ætlum.

ég, þú, hann, hún and það mean I, you, he, she and it. A masculine thing is hann and a feminine thing is hún.

Ages use vera and ára, the genitive plural of ár (year): Ég er tuttugu ára. One to four use their genitive forms: eins árs, tveggja, þriggja, fjögurra ára. The question uses gamall, which agrees with the person: Hvað ertu gamall/gömul?

í + dative means in: í Reykjavík, í töskunni. í + accusative means into, for movement: Ég fer í skólann. Komdu í bílinn. It also means wearing: Ég er í peysu.

þ (thorn) sounds like th in thin and is found at the start of words or word parts. ð (eth) sounds like th in this and is found inside and at the end of words.

Þetta er introduces people and things of any gender, and Þetta eru is for more than one: Þetta er Jón. Þetta er bókin mín. Þetta eru foreldrar mínir.

Use þú for any one person and þið for several. The old formal þér is kept only for rare, very formal occasions.

To tell one person to do something, take the verb stem and add þú as -ðu, -du, -tu or -u: komdu, farðu, taktu, gerðu, segðu, vertu, sestu. To speak to several people, use the -ið form: Komið! Farið!

Use en for than: Hann er eldri en ég. Það er kaldara í dag en í gær. When you compare two subjects, the pronoun after en is nominative: en ég, not en mig.

Most adjectives add -ari: ríkur → ríkari, sterkur → sterkari. Some add -ri, often with a vowel change: stór → stærri, ungur → yngri, fallegur → fallegri. The comparative barely changes: it is -ra/-ara only in the neuter singular.

Compound nouns are written as one word. The last part decides the gender and takes the case and plural endings: á kaffihúsinu, tvö bókasöfn.

mánudagur, þriðjudagur, miðvikudagur, fimmtudagur, föstudagur, laugardagur and sunnudagur are masculine nouns written with a small letter. Use á + accusative for one day (á mánudaginn) and á + dative plural for a habit (á mánudögum).

Feminine nouns like borg change only in the genitive singular: borgar. Their plural ends in -ir or -ar, and nouns in -ing take -u in the accusative and dative.

Feminine nouns in -a, like kona and saga, have -u in the accusative, dative and genitive singular and -ur in the plural. A stem a turns into ö before -u.

Learn these as sets: góður, betri, bestur; vondur, verri, verstur; gamall, eldri, elstur; lítill, minni, minnstur; mikill, meiri, mestur; margir, fleiri, flestir.

Many masculine nouns end in -ur and decline like hestur: hestur, hest, hesti, hests. The plural is hestar, hesta, hestum, hesta.

In nouns like bíll, stóll and steinn, the second l or n is the nominative ending. The other cases drop it and follow the hestur pattern, except that bíll and stóll have no -i in the dative.

Masculine nouns in -i, like tími, sími and afi, have -a in the accusative, dative and genitive singular. Their plural ends in -ar.

janúar, febrúar, mars, apríl, maí, júní, júlí, ágúst, september, október, nóvember and desember are written with a small letter. In a month is í + month: í janúar. Dates use an ordinal with a period in writing: 17. júní, read sautjándi júní.

í and á take the accusative for movement into or onto a place and the dative for being there: Ég fer í bæinn (I am going to town), Ég er í bænum (I am in town). Hún setti bókina á borðið; Bókin er á borðinu.

Personal names change with the case, just like other nouns: Ég hitti Önnu. Þetta er bíll Jóns.

Neuter nouns like hús look the same in the nominative and accusative. The plural adds no ending in those cases, and a stem a turns into ö: land → lönd.

Tens come first and og joins the last part: tuttugu og einn (21), þrjátíu og fimm (35). If the last part is one to four, it agrees with the noun: tuttugu og tvær konur. hundrað (100) and þúsund (1,000) are neuter: tvö hundruð, tvö þúsund.

fyrsti, annar, þriðji, fjórði, fimmti, sjötti, sjöundi, áttundi, níundi and tíundi decline like adjectives: fyrsti dagurinn, fyrsta vikan, í fyrsta sinn. annar has its own forms (annar, önnur, annað). In writing a period marks them: 3. maí.

Strong verbs change their vowel in the past: fara → fór, koma → kom, taka → tók, sjá → sá. ég and hann/hún have no ending, þú adds -st, and the plural adds -um, -uð, -u, sometimes with another vowel: gaf, gáfum.

Verbs like tala (þú talar) form the past with -aði: ég talaði, þú talaðir, hún talaði, við töluðum, þið töluðuð, þau töluðu. In the plural, an a in the stem changes to ö.

Regular verbs like læra (ég læri) add -ði, -di or -ti in the past: lærði, kenndi, keypti. The sound at the end of the stem usually decides which one. Endings: ég lærði, þú lærðir, við lærðum, þau lærðu.

The modal verbs have their own past forms: geta → gat, vilja → vildi, mega → mátti, þurfa → þurfti, kunna → kunni, verða að → varð að. The next verb keeps the same shape as in the present: Ég gat ekki komið. Við þurftum að bíða.

sem (who, which, that) starts a relative clause and never changes: maðurinn sem býr hér, bókin sem ég keypti. It cannot be left out, and a preposition stays at the end: stelpan sem ég talaði við.

Write days, months, holidays, languages and nationality adjectives with a small letter: mánudagur, júní, jól, íslenska, íslenskur matur. Countries and people from a country or place get a capital: Ísland, Íslendingur, Pólverji.

Some verbs put the person in the dative or accusative instead of the nominative, and the verb does not change to match the person: mér finnst, mér líður, mig langar, mig vantar, okkur langar. Learn each verb with the case it needs.

The superlative adds -astur or -stur: ríkur → ríkastur, stór → stærstur. On its own after vera it is strong (Hún er sterkust); before a definite noun it is weak (hæsti tindur Íslands, stærsta borgin).

Icelandic has no future ending. The present tense with a time word often talks about the future: Ég kem á morgun (I'll come tomorrow). For plans, ætla að is also very common.

Talk about the weather with það: Það er kalt (It is cold), Það er rigning (It is raining), Það rignir, Það snjóar. Ask Hvernig er veðrið? When another word comes first, drop það: Í gær rigndi mikið.

Ask Hvað er klukkan? and answer Klukkan er þrjú, with the neuter forms eitt, tvö, þrjú, fjögur. hálf fjögur is half past three (half to four). korter yfir þrjú is quarter past three and korter í fjögur is quarter to four. klukkan átta means at eight.

Use að after verbs like vita, sjá, heyra and segja: Ég veit að þú ert þreytt. Unlike English that, að is rarely left out. Inside the clause the subject comes first and the verb comes before ekki.

The accusative (þolfall) is the case of most direct objects: Ég sé manninn. It also shows movement after í and á (Ég fer í bæinn), how long something lasts (alla vikuna), and comes after um, í gegnum and í kringum.

The article on the end of a noun changes with case and number. Add the case ending first, then the article: hestinum, konunnar, hestunum.

The dative (þágufall) comes after frá, hjá, af, úr and að, shows where something is after í and á (Ég er í bænum), marks the person you give something to (Ég gaf henni blóm), and is the object of verbs like hjálpa, þakka and gleyma.

The genitive (eignarfall) marks the owner, who comes after the thing owned: bíll Jóns (Jón's car), höfuðborg Íslands. It always follows til, án and vegna: til Reykjavíkur, án sykurs. A few verbs, such as sakna (miss), take a genitive object.

The nominative (nefnifall) is the form you find in the dictionary. It is used for most subjects and for the noun or adjective after vera (be), verða (become) and heita (be called): Maðurinn býr hér. Hún er læknir.

maður means man or person and has its own forms: mann, manni, manns, and the plural menn, mönnum, manna.

The supine (sagnbót) is a verb form that never changes. It follows hafa to make the perfect and geta to say what you can do: Ég hef talað. Ég get komið. It usually ends in -að, -t or -ið.

After að, af því að, ef and þegar, the order is subject, then verb, then ekki: Ég veit að hann kemur ekki. This is different from Danish and Swedish, which put ekki first.

Some verbs end in -st. They may be reflexive (setjast, sit down), mutual (hittast, meet each other) or simply have their own meaning (ferðast, travel; eignast, get or have a baby). The singular has no -r: ég ferðast, hún ferðast; the plural adds -umst: við ferðumst.

Place words come in threes: inni/inn/innan, úti/út/utan, uppi/upp/ofan, niðri/niður/neðan, hér/hingað/héðan and þar/þangað/þaðan. Being there uses the first form (Hann er úti), movement toward uses the second (Komdu inn!), and movement from uses the third (héðan, að utan).

alltaf (always), oft (often), stundum (sometimes), sjaldan (seldom) and aldrei (never) go right after the finite verb, in the same place as ekki. A pronoun object still comes before them: Ég sé hann aldrei.

ef (if) gives a real, possible condition with ordinary present or past tense: Komdu ef þú getur. When the ef-clause comes first, the main clause starts with its verb: Ef það rignir förum við ekki út. For "whether", use hvort.

eiga að + infinitive means to be supposed to: Hvað á ég að gera? Þú átt að beygja til vinstri. Það á að rigna á morgun. It uses the forms of eiga: á, átt, á, eigum, eigið, eiga; past átti.

Hún er eins gömul og ég means She is as old as me. Add ekki for not as ... as: Það er ekki eins kalt og í gær. The adjective agrees with the subject as usual.

einu sinni means once, tvisvar twice and þrisvar three times. After that, use a number with sinnum: fjórum sinnum, fimm sinnum. Add á dag, í viku or á ári for how often: þrisvar í viku.

A quick way to say "don't" is ekki plus the infinitive, without að: Ekki gera þetta! Ekki fara! Ekki hafa áhyggjur (Don't worry). The full command with ekki after the verb also works: Gerðu þetta ekki.

enginn (m), engin (f) and ekkert (n) mean no, nobody or nothing. They agree in gender, number and case with their noun: Ég á enga peninga. They already carry the negation, so do not add ekki. In the perfect, a negative object comes before the supine: Ég hef ekkert séð.

Use Er til ...? to ask if something is available: Er til mjólk? Answer Já, það er til mjólk, or Nei, hún er búin when it has run out. The verb agrees with the thing: Eru til egg?

fyrir + accusative means for (Takk fyrir matinn, Þetta er fyrir þig) and before a time (fyrir hádegi). fyrir + dative with an amount of time means ago: fyrir tveimur árum (two years ago).

fyrir framan (in front of), fyrir aftan and á bak við (behind), fyrir ofan (above) and fyrir neðan (below) take the accusative. við hliðina á (next to) takes the dative and á milli (between) takes the genitive: Bíllinn er fyrir framan húsið.

fá means get or receive: ég fæ, þú færð, hún fær, við fáum, þið fáið, þau fá. Its past is fékk (við fengum) and its supine is fengið. Ég fékk bréf. Hvað færðu í afmælisgjöf?

geta means can or be able to. The next verb is in the supine: Ég get komið. Geturðu hjálpað mér? Present forms: get, getur, getur, getum, getið, geta.

The perfect is hafa plus the supine: Ég hef komið til Íslands. Use it for experiences and for situations that continue up to now. For a finished time such as í gær, use the past tense instead.

hafa gaman af + dative means to enjoy: Ég hef gaman af tónlist. Það er gaman að + infinitive means it is fun to: Það er gaman að læra íslensku. Keep af with hafa and að with vera.

hjá always takes the dative and means at someone's home or place: hjá mér (at my place), hjá lækninum (at the doctor's). It is also used for workplaces: Hún vinnur hjá bankanum. For going to a person, use til.

Ask how many with hvað ... margir/margar/mörg, agreeing with the noun: Hvað áttu mörg börn? Ask how much with hvað ... mikið: Hvað drekkurðu mikið kaffi? hvað starts the question, and margir or mikið usually goes next to the noun.

hvaða (which, what) comes before a noun and never changes form: Hvaða bók ertu að lesa? Á hvaða tungumáli? Only the noun after it takes the case. For "which of two", use hvor.

hversu and hve ask how much of a quality: Hversu gamall ertu? Hve langt er til Akureyrar? The adjective agrees with the person or thing. In everyday speech hvað is common, with the adjective at the end: Hvað ertu gamall?

byrja að and hætta að + infinitive mean start and stop doing something: Hún byrjaði að læra íslensku í fyrra. Ég er hættur að reykja (I have quit smoking). hættur agrees with the speaker: a woman says Ég er hætt.

kunna means to know a language or a skill: ég kann, þú kannt, hún kann, við kunnum, þið kunnið, þau kunna; past kunni. Ég kann íslensku. Kanntu að synda? Ég kann ekki að elda.

líka means too or also and follows the verb: Ég er líka þreytt. In a negative sentence use ekki heldur instead: Ég er ekki heldur svangur. Short replies are Ég líka (Me too) and Ég ekki heldur (Me neither).

With a possessive, family words have no article: mamma mín, bróðir minn. Other nouns need the article: bíllinn minn.

Say mig vantar penna (I need a pen): the person is in the accusative and the verb stays vantar for everyone. The thing you need is in the accusative too. Say mig vantar, not mér vantar.

Mér er kalt means I'm cold, and Er þér heitt? means Are you hot? The person is in the dative, the verb is er (var in the past), and the adjective always ends in the neuter -t.

Say mér líkar (I like): the person is in the dative and the verb stays líkar. With people, add vel or illa við: Mér líkar vel við hann (I like him).

Ask Hvernig líður þér? (How are you feeling?) and answer Mér líður vel or Mér líður illa. The person is in the dative and the verb is líður, or leið in the past.

of means too before an adjective or adverb: of dýrt (too expensive), of hratt (too fast), of seint (too late). Add til að for too ... to do something: of kalt til að synda.

um always takes the accusative. It means about (bók um Ísland), around a place (labba um bæinn), during a time (um helgina) and around a clock time (um klukkan tvö). Many verbs use it: tala um, hugsa um, biðja um.

Four everyday verbs have irregular past forms: vera → var (við vorum), hafa → hafði (við höfðum), eiga → átti, vita → vissi. Ég var heima í gær. Ég vissi það ekki.

vera búinn að + infinitive means to have done or finished something: Ég er búinn að borða. búinn agrees with the subject: búinn for a man, búin for a woman, búið for a neuter noun, and búnir, búnar, búin in the plural.

vera has no future form, so verða is used for "will be": Ég verð heima á morgun. Það verður kalt í kvöld. Forms: verð, verður, verður, verðum, verðið, verða.

verða að + infinitive means must or have to: ég verð, þú verður, hún verður, við verðum, þið verðið, þau verða. Ég verð að fara núna. Þú verður að prófa þetta! The past is varð: Ég varð að vinna.

Icelandic has three verbs for to know. vita is to know a fact: Ég veit það. þekkja is to know a person or place: Ég þekki hann. kunna is to know a skill or a language: Ég kann íslensku.

við + accusative means by, at or against a place: við gluggann (by the window), við borðið (at the table), við sjóinn (by the sea). It also follows many verbs: tala við (talk to), gera við (repair). Do not confuse it with the pronoun við (we).

Some places take á and others take í: á Íslandi, í Reykjavík. Learn the preposition together with the place name.

í gær (yesterday), í dag (today), á morgun (tomorrow), í kvöld (tonight), í morgun (this morning, already past), í fyrra (last year), í ár (this year) and á næsta ári (next year). Watch the difference between í morgun and á morgun.

í + accusative gives how long something lasts: Ég bjó í Noregi í tvö ár. eftir + accusative gives a time from now: Ég kem eftir viku (in a week). Do not use í for "in a week"; í viku means for a week.

Say there is or there are with það + vera + an indefinite noun: Það er banki hérna. Use eru with a plural noun: Það eru tveir kettir í garðinum. In a question or after another first word, drop það: Er banki hérna?

þegar (when) joins a time clause to a sentence: Hringdu þegar þú kemur. When the þegar-clause comes first, the main clause starts with its verb: Þegar ég var lítill bjó ég á Ísafirði.

þessi points to something near you and agrees with its noun: þessi bíll, þessi bók, þetta hús. It changes with case too, so "I want this car" is Ég vil þennan bíl.

þurfa að + infinitive means need to: ég þarf, þú þarft, hún þarf, við þurfum, þið þurfið, þau þurfa. Ég þarf að fara. With a noun it needs no að: Þarftu hjálp? In the negative it means don't have to: Þú þarft ekki að borga.

Learn each verb with its principal parts. Strong verbs need four: fara, fór, fórum, farið (infinitive, past singular, past plural, supine). Regular verbs need three: kalla, kallaði, kallað. Every other form can be built from these.

When the noun has the article, or follows þessi or a possessive placed first, the adjective is weak: góði maðurinn, góða konan, góða barnið; plural góðu. Ég keypti nýja bílinn. Þetta er gamla húsið mitt.

lítill, mikill and gamall shorten or change their stem in some forms: lítinn, litlum; gamlan, gömlum; mikinn, miklum. The feminine is lítil, gömul and mikil, and the neuter is lítið, gamalt and mikið.

Before a noun without the article, and after vera, adjectives take strong endings for gender, number and case: Ég á góðan vin. Við búum í stóru húsi. Maðurinn er góður.

To say how something is done, turn an adjective into an adverb: fallegur → fallega, hraður → hratt. The adverb for good is vel and the adverb for bad is illa. Unlike adjectives, adverbs do not change for gender or number.

-st often means each other: hittast (meet), sjást (see each other), kyssast (kiss), kynnast (get to know each other). The subject is plural and there is no object: Við sjáumst! (See you!) Þau kynntust í Reykjavík.

hver means each or every with a singular noun: hver dagur, hvert ár, á hverjum degi (every day), í hverri viku (every week). hver einasti means every single one, and annan hvern dag means every other day.

Compound nouns often join their parts with a genitive: barna (of children) + skóli → barnaskóli, Íslands + ferð → Íslandsferð. Other compounds simply join stems: sjónvarp, bílstjóri. The link in each word is fixed, and the last part decides the gender.

After til, án, vegna and verbs like sakna, use the genitive pronouns mín, þín, hans, hennar, þess, okkar, ykkar and þeirra: Komdu til mín. Ég sakna þín. Ég fer ekki án þeirra.

Regular (weak) verbs fall into groups by their past: -aði verbs like kalla (kallaði); -ði/-di/-ti verbs with -i in the present, like dæma (ég dæmi, dæmdi); and verbs like telja that change their vowel: ég tel, ég taldi. The present tense usually shows the group.

Letters start with the weak adjective kæri, kæra or kæru (dear) and the name in the nominative: Kæri Jón, Kæra Anna, Kæru vinir. Common endings are Kær kveðja, Bestu kveðjur and Með kveðju.

A few masculine nouns end in -ir in the nominative singular: læknir (doctor), hellir (cave), mælir (meter). The singular goes læknir, lækni, lækni, læknis, and the plural goes læknar, lækna, læknum, lækna. Names like Sverrir and Þórir decline the same way.

Use maður like English "you" or "one" for people in general: Maður gerir ekki svona. Hvernig segir maður þetta á íslensku? With verbs that take an oblique subject it becomes mann or manni: Mann langar í meira. Manni líður vel.

The numbers one to four decline for gender and case, like adjectives: fyrir tveimur árum (two years ago), með þremur vinum (with three friends), fjögurra ára (four years old). From five to twenty, the numbers do not change.

Past participles such as lokaður (closed), brotinn (broken) and seldur (sold) work as adjectives and agree with the noun: Búðin er lokuð. Glasið er brotið. Bíllinn er seldur.

A group of masculine nouns takes -ir in the nominative plural: gestur → gestir, staður → staðir, fundur → fundir. The other plural cases are -i, -um and -a (gesti, gestum, gesta). Many of these nouns have -ar in the genitive singular (staðar, fundar), but some have -s (gests).

A few common nouns make their plural with a vowel change, often plus -ur: menn, fætur, bækur, hendur, tennur, bændur, mýs. Learn them as pairs. Most go back to the singular vowel in the dative plural: bókum, höndum.

minn, þinn and sinn agree with the noun in gender, number and case: Ég fór með vini mínum. Ég talaði við konuna mína. Þetta er bíll bróður míns. þinn and sinn follow the same pattern as minn.

A small group of prepositions always takes the accusative: um (about, around, during), í gegnum (through), í kringum (around) and umhverfis (around, all the way round): um helgina, í gegnum bæinn, í kringum húsið, umhverfis landið.

A large group of prepositions always takes the dative: frá (from), hjá (at, with), af (of, off), úr (out of), að (to, up to), gegn (against), handa (for) and á móti (opposite, against): glas af vatni, út úr húsinu, Þetta er handa þér.

A few prepositions take the genitive: til (to), án (without), vegna (because of), (á) milli (between), (á) meðal (among), auk (besides), innan (within) and utan (outside): til Íslands, án þín, vegna veðursins. In speech, út af + dative often replaces vegna: út af veðrinu.

In questions both orders are correct: Við hvern ertu að tala? and Hvern ertu að tala við? In a sem-clause the preposition must go to the end: maðurinn sem ég bý hjá. The question word keeps the preposition's case either way.

A pronoun object moves in front of ekki: Ég sá hann ekki. Ég þekki hana ekki. A full noun may stay after it: Ég las ekki bókina or Ég las bókina ekki. After an auxiliary, the object stays after the main verb: Ég hef ekki séð hann.

Some common regular verbs change their vowel in the past: telja → taldi, velja → valdi, spyrja → spurði, segja → sagði, sækja → sótti, þykja → þótti, kaupa → keypti. The endings are regular; only the vowel is new. selja (sell) has the same short present, ég sel, and a regular past: seldi.

When you report what someone says or thinks, the verb after að is subjunctive: Hún segir að hún sé þreytt. After a past verb, use the past subjunctive: Hann sagði að hann væri veikur. Verbs of knowing, like vita, take the indicative.

The passive is vera + past participle, and the participle agrees with the subject: Húsið var byggt árið 1920. Bókin er skrifuð á ensku. The doer, if named, follows af + dative.

The past subjunctive of strong verbs comes from the past plural with -i and usually a vowel change: fórum → færi, komum → kæmi, gátum → gæti. Most other verbs look like their past tense, but some change their vowel: hefði, ætti. Ef ég væri ríkur ...

In Það er kalt úti or Það komu margir gestir, það only keeps the verb in second place. Move something else to the front and it disappears: Úti er kalt. Í gær komu margir gestir. The verb agrees with the real subject: Það komu margir gestir.

The present subjunctive is built from the infinitive stem with the endings -i, -ir, -i, -um, -ið, -i: komi, fari, tali, hafi, geti; vera has sé. It follows verbs of saying and thinking: Hún segir að hann sé veikur.

Many verbs come with a fixed preposition: hlusta á (listen to), horfa á (watch), bíða eftir (wait for), hugsa um (think about), hlæja að (laugh at), leita að (look for), trúa á (believe in). Learn the verb, the preposition and its case together. Ég er að bíða eftir strætó.

Many verbs pair with a particle that changes their meaning: taka til (tidy up), halda áfram (continue), gefast upp (give up), kveikja á (turn on), slökkva á (turn off), hringja í (call someone). Learn them as whole phrases. Hringdu í mig á morgun.

gefa, senda, sýna, segja, lána and rétta take a person in the dative and a thing in the accusative: Ég gaf henni bók. Sýndu mér myndina. Hann sagði mér söguna. The person usually comes first.

Many common verbs take a dative object: hjálpa (help), þakka (thank), svara (answer), gleyma (forget), mæta (meet), loka (close), týna (lose), breyta (change). Ég gleymdi lyklunum. Lokaðu dyrunum.

When an ending with u follows, a stressed a turns into ö: við tölum, sögu, börnum, gömlum. An unstressed a before u becomes u: kölluðum. The ö stays in plurals like lönd and börn, and the nominative ending -ur does not cause it: dagur.

allur agrees in gender, number and case: allur dagurinn, öll fjölskyldan, allt húsið, allir krakkarnir. Use the article for "the whole": allan daginn (all day). Alone, allir means everyone and allt means everything. Allt í lagi means okay.

annar means another or a different one (Viltu annan kaffibolla? Hún býr í öðru landi) and second (Liðið lenti í öðru sæti). With a definite noun it means one of two: öðrum fætinum. Use hinn for "the other one".

báðir agrees: báðir bræðurnir, báðar systurnar, bæði börnin. Use bæði for a man and a woman together: Pabbi og mamma eru bæði kennarar. The other forms are báða, báðum and beggja. bæði ... og links two things: bæði kaffi og te.

For something unreal or unlikely, the ef-clause takes the past subjunctive: Ef ég hefði tíma myndi ég læra meira. The main clause uses myndi + infinitive or the verb's own past subjunctive: Ef ég væri þú færi ég heim.

eftir with the accusative means after in time, or by an author or artist: eftir matinn (after the meal), bók eftir Laxness. After bíða (wait for), muna (remember) and taka (notice) it takes the dative: Ég bíð eftir þér (I am waiting for you).

Einhver hringdi (someone called). Viltu eitthvað að drekka? (something). Before a noun einhver means some: einhver bók, eitthvert hús. Related words: einhvers staðar (somewhere), eitthvert or eitthvað (to somewhere), einhvern tíma (sometime).

After a negative, heldur means but rather: Hún er ekki kennari heldur læknir. Ég fór ekki í bíó heldur heim. Use en for but when nothing is being corrected.

ekki enn (or ekki ennþá) means not yet, and ekki lengur means not anymore: Hann er ekki kominn enn. Ég bý ekki lengur hér. On its own, enn means still. strax means right away and bráðum means soon.

fara að + infinitive means start or be about to: Það fór að rigna (It started to rain). Það er farið að rigna (It has started to rain). Ég fer að sofa (I am going to bed).

These five family words have -ir in the nominative and -ur in the accusative, dative and genitive singular: Ég bý hjá móður minni. Their plurals change the vowel: feður, mæður, bræður, systur, dætur.

The past subjunctive makes requests more polite: Gætirðu hjálpað mér? (Could you help me?) Mætti ég fá vatnsglas? (Could I have a glass of water?) Ég vildi gjarnan fá kaffi. gæti takes the supine; mætti and vildi take the infinitive.

hafði + supine puts one past event before another: Ég hafði aldrei séð norðurljós áður. Hún hafði borðað áður en ég kom. hafa changes (hafði, hafðir, hafði, höfðum, höfðuð, höfðu), and the supine does not.

hlakka til (look forward to) takes an ordinary nominative subject: ég hlakka, þú hlakkar, við hlökkum. The thing you look forward to is in the genitive after til, or use til að + infinitive: Við hlökkum til að sjá þig. Forms with mig or mér are not standard.

hvort introduces an indirect yes/no question, like English whether or if: Veistu hvort búðin er opin? Ég veit ekki hvort ég get komið. Inside the hvort-clause, the subject comes before the verb.

Start with jæja to move on, sum up or get ready to leave: Jæja, eigum við að fara? Start with heyrðu to bring up something new: Heyrðu, ég gleymdi að segja þér eitt.

komast, the -st form of koma, means to get somewhere or manage to go: Hvernig kemst ég á flugvöllinn? Ég komst ekki í tíma í gær. Present: kemst, við komumst; past: komst, við komumst; supine: komist.

lengi is about time (Ég bjó lengi í Noregi) and langt is about distance (Er langt til Akureyrar?). Before a noun, use the adjective langur: Þetta tók langan tíma.

láta + infinitive without að means let or have something done: Láttu mig vita (Let me know). Ég lét gera við bílinn (I had the car repaired). It also appears in Láttu ekki svona! (Don't be like that!)

muna (remember) has irregular present forms: ég man, þú manst, hann man, við munum, þið munið, þau muna. The past is mundi. Ég man það ekki. Manstu eftir mér? (Do you remember me?)

munu + infinitive (no að) says what will happen: Það mun rigna á morgun. It sounds formal; in everyday speech the present tense, ætla að or verða are more common. Forms: mun, munt, mun, munum, munuð, munu.

myndi or mundi + infinitive means would: Ég myndi fara ef ég gæti. Hvað myndir þú gera? Both forms are correct and are used side by side.

mér er sama (it’s all the same to me) means I don’t mind: Mér er alveg sama. With um it means not caring about something: Honum er sama um peninga. Er þér sama þótt ...? asks Do you mind if ...?

More verbs with a dative or accusative subject: mér leiðist (I am bored), mér batnar (I am getting better), mér tekst (I manage), mér þykir vænt um (I care about), mig minnir (I seem to remember), mig grunar (I suspect), mig dreymdi (I dreamed). The verb stays the same for everyone: okkur leiðist.

Put nógu in front of an adjective or adverb: nógu gott (good enough), nógu hratt (fast enough). Use nóg for an amount: nóg af tíma, or Takk, þetta er nóg.

Use sig, sér and sín when a third-person subject does something to itself: Hann klæðir sig. Hún flýtir sér. With ég, þú, við and þið, use their own pronouns: Ég klæði mig. Við flýtum okkur.

Use sinn, sín, sitt when the owner is the subject: Anna hringdi í mömmu sína (her own mother). Use hans, hennar or þeirra for someone else's: Anna hringdi í mömmu hennar (another woman's mother). sinn is never part of the subject it points back to.

sjálfur agrees in gender, number and case: Ég gerði það sjálf (a woman), sjálfur (a man). With sig it makes himself or herself: Hann talar við sjálfan sig. After a noun it means itself: Borgin sjálf er lítil.

við skulum + infinitive means let's: Við skulum fara. The first-person plural alone also works: Förum! skal promises or orders: Ég skal hjálpa þér. Forms: skal, skalt, skal, skulum, skuluð, skulu.

Use sá sem (the one who), sú sem for a woman, þeir sem (those who) and það sem (what): Sá sem kemur fyrstur fær kaffi. Það sem ég vil er frí. sá and það change case for the main sentence: Ég trúi ekki því sem hann sagði.

síðan points back to a starting time: Ég hef búið hér síðan 2020. It also means then or afterwards: Fyrst borðuðum við og síðan fórum við í bíó.

til að or til þess að + infinitive says why you do something: Ég fer í búðina til að kaupa mjólk. Hún lærir íslensku til þess að geta unnið hér. til þess að is a little fuller and common in writing.

undir and yfir take two cases. For movement to a new place or across something, use the accusative: Kötturinn skreið undir rúmið. Við gengum yfir brúna. For where something is, use the dative: Kötturinn er undir rúminu.

var að + infinitive has two uses: an action in progress in the past (Ég var að lesa þegar þú hringdir) and something that has just happened (Ég var að koma heim, I just got home).

var búinn að + infinitive (had already done) is the past of vera búinn að: Hún var búin að borða þegar ég kom. búinn changes with the subject: búinn, búin, búið; plural búnir, búnar, búin.

vegna þess að means because, like af því að, and sounds a little more formal: Ég kom ekki vegna þess að ég var veikur. Before a noun, use vegna + genitive: vegna veðursins (because of the weather).

Some verbs of motion and change use vera + participle to say something has happened and the result is still true: Hann er kominn (he has arrived). Hún er farin (she has left). Ég er orðinn þreyttur. The participle agrees with the subject like an adjective.

verða means become or get: Hann varð reiður. Það er orðið kalt. Hún verður þrítug á morgun (She turns thirty tomorrow). Past: varð, við urðum; supine: orðið. An adjective or noun after it stays in the nominative.

For a regular time, use á + the accusative plural with the attached article: á sumrin (in summer), á veturna (in winter), á morgnana (in the mornings), á kvöldin (in the evenings).

án þess að + infinitive means without doing something: Hann fór án þess að kveðja. With a new subject it takes a subjunctive clause: Hún fór út án þess að ég vissi það. í stað þess að means instead of: Í stað þess að kvarta ættum við að hjálpa.

áður en means before and eftir að means after. Both begin a clause with a subject and a verb: Þvoðu þér um hendurnar áður en þú borðar. Eftir að hún kom heim fór hún að sofa.

ætti að + infinitive means should. It gives advice (Þú ættir að hvíla þig) or says what you expect (Það ætti að vera opið). Forms: ætti, ættir, ætti, ættum, ættuð, ættu.

þangað til means until and á meðan means while: Bíddu þangað til ég kem. Á meðan ég elda getur þú lagt á borð. For not until, Icelandic usually says ekki fyrr en: Ég fer ekki fyrr en þú kemur.

Say Það er gaman að ..., Það er gott að ..., Það er mikilvægt að ... followed by an infinitive or a whole clause. The adjective is neuter: gott, erfitt, mikilvægt. In a question það drops out: Er erfitt að læra íslensku?

þess vegna means that is why or therefore. It points back to a reason already given: Ég var veikur. Þess vegna kom ég ekki. When it starts the clause, the verb comes right after it.

Adding -st to many verbs gives a passive meaning when no doer matters: Það sést ekki neitt (Nothing can be seen). Lyklarnir fundust (The keys were found). Þetta heyrist vel. Unlike the passive with vera, these forms cannot name a doer with af.

-legur forms many adjectives: fallegur (beautiful), skemmtilegur (fun), vinalegur (friendly), hræðilegur (terrible). They agree with their noun like other adjectives: skemmtileg bók, skemmtilegt kvöld. The adverb ends in -lega: Hún syngur fallega.

Adverbs have comparative and superlative forms that never decline: vel, betur, best; illa, verr, verst; mikið, meira, mest; oft, oftar, oftast; lengi, lengur, lengst. Most regular adverbs add -ar and -ast: hratt, hraðar, hraðast. Hún syngur betur en ég.

Verbs in -na describe a change that happens to the subject: vakna (wake up), sofna (fall asleep), batna (get better), hitna (get warm), kólna (get cold). They never take an object, and they go like tala: Ég vaknaði klukkan sjö.

Written Icelandic uses many abbreviations: t.d. (til dæmis, for example), þ.e. (það er, that is), o.s.frv. (og svo framvegis, and so on), m.a. (meðal annars, among other things) and u.þ.b. (um það bil, about). When you read aloud, say the full words.

en hvað and mikið start exclamations: En hvað þetta er fallegt! (How beautiful this is!) Mikið er gott að sjá þig! (It's so good to see you!) After en hvað the subject comes before the verb. After mikið the verb comes second. For what a ..., use þvílíkur: Þvílíkt veður!

Almost any part of a sentence can come first for emphasis or contrast, and the verb stays second: Þessa bók hef ég lesið (This book I have read). An object that moves to the front keeps its case: Honum treysti ég ekki (I don't trust him).

Many foreign places have Icelandic names, and they decline like other nouns: Kaupmannahöfn (Copenhagen), Stokkhólmur (Stockholm), Varsjá (Warsaw), Kraká (Kraków), Lundúnir (London). Ég bjó í Varsjá. Hún flaug til Kaupmannahafnar.

Verbs without an object can form a passive with no subject to say that people did something: Það var dansað alla nóttina. Það var hlegið mikið. það only holds first place and drops out when another word comes first: Hér er ekki reykt.

Inside a bigger sentence, a question keeps its question word but uses statement order, subject then verb: Veistu hvað klukkan er? After a verb of asking, especially in the past, the subjunctive is common: Hún spurði hvað klukkan væri.

A few neuter nouns end in -a, mostly body parts: auga (eye), eyra (ear), hjarta (heart), lunga (lung), nýra (kidney). The singular never changes. The plural goes -u, -u, -um, -na: augu, augu, augum, augna.

Neuter nouns in -i keep -i through the singular and add -s in the genitive: fyrirtæki, fyrirtæki, fyrirtæki, fyrirtækis. The plural looks like the singular except in the dative and genitive: fyrirtækjum, fyrirtækja. A j comes before -um and -a only after k or g: fyrirtækjum, but kvæðum.

A small group of masculine nouns with ö in the nominative change their vowel through the forms. They have -ar in the genitive singular and -ir in the plural: fjörður, fjörð, firði, fjarðar, plural firðir; köttur, kött, ketti, kattar, plural kettir.

-ari makes nouns for people who do something, like -er in English: kenna → kennari (teacher), baka → bakari, leika → leikari, dæma → dómari. They decline like tími: kennara. In the dative plural the a turns into u: kennurum.

Masculine nouns in -andi name people who do something: nemandi (student), eigandi (owner), kaupandi (buyer). The singular is nemandi, nemanda, nemanda, nemanda. The plural changes a to e: nemendur, nemendur, nemendum, nemenda. bóndi → bændur works the same way.

Some verbs come in pairs: leggja, setja and fella take an object (lay, put, fell), while liggja, sitja and falla have none (lie, sit, fall). Ég legg bókina á borðið. Bókin liggur á borðinu. The -st forms leggjast and setjast mean lie down and sit down.

-st verbs keep -st in every tense: Við hittumst í gær. Ég hef ferðast mikið. Build the form from the normal past or supine and add -st. A final ð, t or tt of the supine drops, so hitt becomes hist and komið becomes komist.

Some Icelandic nouns exist only in the plural, even when they mean one thing: buxur (trousers), dyr (door), skæri (scissors), gleraugu (glasses), jól (Christmas). Verbs and adjectives with them are plural, and they are counted with special number words: einar buxur, tvennar buxur, þrennar buxur, fernar buxur.

Take away the final -a of the infinitive and add -andi: sofa → sofandi, brosa → brosandi, hlaupa → hlaupandi. It never changes form. Use it for states like Barnið er sofandi and after koma: Hann kom hlaupandi. For an action happening now, use vera að instead.

sjá (see), heyra (hear) and finna (feel) can take an object and an infinitive: Ég sá hann koma. Ég heyrði hana syngja. The object is in the accusative, and there is no að before the infinitive.

Strong verbs change their vowel instead of adding a past ending, and the vowels follow a few fixed patterns: bíta, beit, bitum, bitið; bjóða, bauð, buðum, boðið; drekka, drakk, drukkum, drukkið; bera, bar, bárum, borið; gefa, gaf, gáfum, gefið; fara, fór, fórum, farið.

After hafa the verb is in the supine and never changes: Ég hef skrifað bréfin. After vera or verða the past participle agrees with the subject like an adjective: Bréfið er skrifað. Bréfin voru skrifuð. The supine usually looks like the neuter singular of the participle.

Icelandic adds a short fixed tag to a statement to ask for agreement: Þetta er gott, er það ekki? Hann kemur, ekki satt? The tag does not copy the verb the way English does, and in speech eða? is common too.

A verb with a dative or genitive object keeps that case in the passive. The participle is the neuter singular form and the verb stays singular: Honum var hjálpað. Dyrunum var lokað. Þeirra var saknað.

Use verða instead of vera for a passive about the future: Húsið verður byggt í sumar. Bréfið verður sent á morgun. The participle agrees with the subject, and verða agrees with it in person and number: Úrslitin verða tilkynnt í kvöld.

ó- works like un- or in- in English. It turns an adjective into its opposite: ánægður → óánægður (dissatisfied), heppinn → óheppinn (unlucky), mögulegur → ómögulegur (impossible), þekktur → óþekktur (unknown). With some nouns it means a bad kind of thing: veður → óveður (storm).

In the present singular, these verbs have no -ur ending and a different vowel: vita → ég veit, þú veist, hún veit; kunna → kann. The plural is regular (við vitum), and the past uses a regular-looking ending: vissi, kunni, átti.

Some verbs are used only with -st: ferðast (travel), óttast (fear), öðlast (gain), þarfnast (need). nálgast (approach) and andast (pass away) are best learned the same way. They are not passive or reflexive, and many take an object: Ég óttast ekkert.

Some verbs put their object in the genitive: sakna (miss), njóta (enjoy), óska (wish), gæta (look after) and þarfnast (need). Ég sakna þín. Njóttu dagsins! Ég óska þér góðrar ferðar.

A particle follows a pronoun object but can come before or after a noun object: Taktu hann upp. Taktu upp símann or Taktu símann upp. A particle that is a preposition, like í in hringja í, always comes before its object: Hringdu í mig.

The present subjunctive expresses wishes in fixed phrases, usually with the verb first: Gangi þér vel! (Good luck!) Guð blessi Ísland. Verði þér að góðu. Komi það sem koma skal (Come what may).

Actions on your own body use a reflexive pronoun and the body part with the article: Ég þvoði mér um hendurnar. Hún burstar í sér tennurnar. Icelandic does not say my hands here, because the reflexive already shows whose body it is.

Several place words are staðar, the genitive of staður (place), with a matching genitive word in front: alls staðar (everywhere), annars staðar (elsewhere), einhvers staðar (somewhere), sums staðar (in some places). They never change and are written as two words. hvergi means nowhere.

annaðhvort ... eða offers two choices: Við förum annaðhvort í dag eða á morgun (We are going either today or tomorrow). annaðhvort is written as one word and never changes its form.

bara (just), alveg (completely, really) and eiginlega (actually) soften or stress what you say: Þetta er bara fínt. Það er alveg rétt. Ég veit það eiginlega ekki. In speech, sko (you see) adds emphasis: Ég kemst ekki, sko.

Past unreal conditions use hefði + supine in both parts: Ef ég hefði vitað það hefði ég komið. The ef-clause fills first place, so the result starts with hefði and the subject comes after it.

eins og means like or as; with the subjunctive it means as if: Hann lét eins og hann vissi ekkert. Mér líður eins og ég sé heima. A real comparison keeps the indicative: eins og ég sagði.

ekki bara ... heldur líka adds a second point to the first: Hún talar ekki bara íslensku heldur líka pólsku (She speaks not only Icelandic but also Polish). In careful writing you will also see ekki aðeins ... heldur einnig.

frekar means rather. Say what you prefer with vilja frekar ... en: Ég vil frekar te en kaffi. heldur en is another way to say than: Ég vil frekar ganga heldur en taka strætó. Before an adjective, frekar means fairly: frekar kalt.

fyrst can give a reason, like since: Fyrst þú ert hérna getur þú hjálpað mér. It also means first: Fyrst borðum við. Word order shows which one it is.

fá að + infinitive means be allowed to or get to: Ég fékk að fara snemma. It is also a polite way to ask: Má ég fá að sjá? Gæti ég fengið að tala við Önnu? fá keeps its own forms: fæ, fékk, fengið.

In speech, Icelanders often put hann or hún before the first name of someone the listener knows: Hann Jón er kominn. The pronoun matches the name in gender and case: Ég hitti hana Önnu í gær. It is optional and signals that you both know who is meant.

hefði átt að + infinitive means should have, and hefði getað + supine means could have: Ég hefði átt að koma fyrr. Þú hefðir getað hringt. hefði changes with the person: ég hefði, þú hefðir, við hefðum.

hinn, hin, hitt means the other one of two or of a known group: Ekki þessi bók, hin! Hitt húsið er stærra. It declines, and a noun after it keeps the attached article. hinir means the others. annar means another or other, not the other.

hljóta að + infinitive says that something must be true: Hún hlýtur að vera þreytt. Þetta hlýtur að vera rangt. For the past, add hafa and a supine: Hann hlýtur að hafa gleymt því. English must for a rule is verða að.

Put sem after a question word to make it mean -ever: hvað sem (whatever), hver sem (whoever), hvar sem (wherever), hvenær sem (whenever). Add er to mean any at all: Hver sem er getur lært íslensku. Þú mátt sitja hvar sem er.

hvor means which of two: Hvor bíllinn er þinn? Hvor ykkar kom fyrst? It declines for gender and case, and a noun after it usually has the article, because both speakers already know the two things.

hvor annar means each other when two people act on one another: Þeir hjálpa hvor öðrum. hvor stays in the case of the subject, usually the nominative, while annar takes the case the verb or preposition needs. A mixed pair uses the neuter: Þau elska hvort annað.

hvorki ... né joins two negatives: Ég drekk hvorki kaffi né te (I drink neither coffee nor tea). hvorki stands where ekki would stand, and the sentence has no other ekki. It can also join two subjects: Hvorki hann né hún vissi það.

hán is a third-person pronoun used by and about some non-binary people. It declines hán, hán, háni, háns, takes neuter adjectives (Hán er ánægt), and has þau as its plural. Use the pronoun a person asks you to use.

kannski (maybe), líklega and sennilega (probably), örugglega (surely) and eflaust (no doubt) show how sure you are. They usually come right after the verb: Hún kemur líklega á morgun. Put first, they are followed by the verb: Kannski kemur hann á morgun.

To say "much bigger", put miklu (or mun) before the comparative: miklu stærri, mun betra. To say by how much, put the amount in the dative: tveimur árum eldri (two years older), tíu mínútum fyrr. mjög (very) is not used with comparatives.

nema means except: allir nema ég. The word after nema takes the same case as the word it is compared with. As unless, nema takes the subjunctive: Ég kem nema það rigni.

nokkur and neinn both translate any. nokkur is used in questions: Áttu nokkra peninga? neinn needs a negative word before it: Ég sá ekki neinn. This is not a double negative, because neinn is not negative by itself: ekki neinn means the same as enginn.

samt (still, anyway) and the more formal engu að síður (nevertheless) mark something unexpected: Það rigndi en við fórum samt. Verkið var erfitt; engu að síður tókst það. Like ekki, samt goes after the finite verb, or at the end.

svo + adjective or adverb ... að gives a result: Það var svo kalt að vatnið fraus. Ég var svo þreyttur að ég sofnaði strax. The result clause is in the indicative when it really happened.

svo að + subjunctive gives a purpose: Talaðu hægt svo að ég skilji. With the indicative it gives a result: Það var kalt, svo að við fórum heim. In speech að is often dropped: svo ég skilji.

sá, sú, það (that) points to a person or thing that is known or already mentioned: sá maður, sú kona, það barn. It declines: þann, þeim, þess. It is common in fixed phrases like á þeim tíma and in the pattern sá sem. In everyday speech people more often point with þessi ... þarna: þessi bíll þarna.

After numbers that do not decline, like fimm, tíu, tuttugu and hundrað, people are often counted with manns, the genitive singular of maður: tuttugu manns. The verb agrees with the number, not with manns: Tuttugu manns komu. With tveir, þrír and fjórir, use menn or another noun instead.

vera vanur að + infinitive says what someone usually does or is used to doing: Ég er vanur að vakna snemma. vanur is an adjective and agrees with the subject: vanur, vön, vant, and in the plural vanir, vanar, vön. In the past it means used to: Ég var vanur að reykja.

virðast means seem, and the one who seems is the subject: Hún virðist vera ánægð. sýnast is used with a dative person and means it looks to someone: Mér sýnist hann vera þreyttur. Both are -st verbs and take an infinitive without að.

víst means apparently or so I hear: Hann er víst veikur (Apparently he is ill). Það á víst að snjóa á morgun. Like ekki, it goes after the finite verb.

ég vildi að + past subjunctive expresses a wish that is not true now: Ég vildi að ég gæti komið. Ég vildi að það væri sumar. For the past, use hefði: Ég vildi að ég hefði vitað það.

þar sem means where in a relative clause and since when giving a reason: húsið þar sem ég fæddist. Þar sem veðrið var vont var fluginu frestað. For movement, use þangað sem (to where).

því + comparative in both parts links two changes: Því meira sem ég læri, því meira skil ég (The more I learn, the more I understand). Put sem in the first part. In the second part the verb comes right after the comparative. The short form is Því fyrr, því betra (The sooner, the better).

þó að or þótt (although) takes the subjunctive: Hann fór út þó að það væri kalt. Þótt hún sé þreytt heldur hún áfram. After a present main verb use the present subjunctive, after a past one the past subjunctive.

Add -skapur, -leiki (-leikur) or -dómur to a word to name a quality or state: vinur → vinskapur (friendship), sannur → sannleikur (truth), sjúkur → sjúkdómur (disease). All three make masculine nouns.

The suffixes -samur, -ugur, -rænn and -skur build adjectives from other words: hjálpsamur (helpful), kröftugur (powerful), norrænn (Nordic), íslenskur (Icelandic). The new adjectives take the usual endings: hjálpsamur, hjálpsöm, hjálpsamt.

Adjectives can stand for people or things with no noun: sá gamli (the old man), hinir ríku (the rich), eitthvað nýtt (something new), það besta (the best thing). They take weak endings after sá, hinn and það, and strong neuter endings after eitthvað, ekkert, margt and allt.

A few common adjectives take a dative complement: líkur (like), þakklátur (grateful), trúr (loyal), kunnugur (familiar with), vanur (used to), skyldur (related to) and hollur (good for). Hann er líkur pabba sínum. Ég er þér þakklát.

A noun phrase that explains another noun takes the same case: Ég talaði við Jón, bróður þinn (accusative). Ég fékk bréf frá Ólafi, vini mínum (dative). Þetta er bíll Önnu, systur minnar (genitive). The verb or preposition chooses the case once, and both parts follow it.

A noun or adjective that says what someone is takes the case of that person. After vera, verða and passives it describes the subject, so it is nominative: Hann var kosinn formaður. After verbs like kjósa, kalla and telja it describes the object, so it is accusative: Þau kusu hann formann.

In careful style the verb can open a condition instead of ef: Hefði ég vitað það hefði ég komið (Had I known, I would have come). Væri ég ríkur keypti ég hús (If I were rich, I would buy a house). The verb must be subjunctive, and the main clause then starts with its verb or with þá.

Many speakers replace the accusative subject of langa, vanta and dreyma with a dative: mér langar, mér vantar. This is called þágufallssýki (dative sickness). It is not standard, and it is corrected in school and in writing. The standard forms are mig langar, mig vantar and mig dreymdi.

Many meanings are carried by fixed verb + noun phrases: gera ráð fyrir (expect), taka tillit til (take into account), hafa áhrif á (affect), taka þátt í (take part in), koma í veg fyrir (prevent). The verb changes as usual, but the noun and the preposition stay the same, and each preposition takes a fixed case.

Formal texts use prepositions like samkvæmt + dative (according to), gagnvart + dative (towards), varðandi + accusative (concerning) and sökum + genitive (because of): samkvæmt lögum, sökum veðurs. Learn each one together with its case.

Icelandic has an everyday style and a formal style. Speech says Ég ætla að fara and Viltu kaffi?, while formal writing says Fundurinn mun hefjast and Hefur þú lesið skilmálana? Choose the style that fits the situation.

Some verbs describe events with no nominative subject. Weather verbs have no subject at all: Það rignir. Í dag snjóar. Other verbs name the thing that something happens to in the accusative or dative: Bátinn rak á land (The boat drifted ashore). Bátnum hvolfdi (The boat capsized). The verb is always third person singular.

An að-infinitive can act like a noun, as a subject or object: Að læra íslensku tekur tíma. Mér finnst gaman að elda. In everyday speech it usually comes at the end, after það: Það tekur tíma að læra íslensku.

A measure that describes a noun or an adjective is in the genitive: fimm mínútna ganga (a five-minute walk), þriggja ára barn (a three-year-old child), tveggja metra hár maður (a two-metre-tall man). The numbers two to four use their genitive forms: tveggja, þriggja, fjögurra.

For new things Icelandic prefers native words built from old roots: sími (telephone, an old word for thread), tölva (computer, from tala and völva), þyrla (helicopter, from þyrla, to whirl) and sjónvarp (television). Loanwords such as bíll and djass also get Icelandic endings.

Formal texts often use nouns where speech uses verbs: Lokun skólans var ákveðin (the closing of the school was decided) instead of Ákveðið var að loka skólanum. When a verb becomes a noun, its object goes into the genitive or after a preposition.

With a dative subject, the other noun is in the nominative: Mér líkar þessi bók. Mér leiðist þessi þáttur. Mér finnst myndin góð. When that noun is plural, the verb is usually plural too: Mér líkuðu bækurnar.

Many particle verbs form a compound noun with the particle first: gefa út → útgáfa, taka þátt → þátttaka, taka upp → upptaka, koma fram → framkoma. The last part of the noun decides its gender and endings.

y, ý and ey are spelled by word history, not sound. A related word often shows the way: u or o gives y (fullur → fylla), ú or jó gives ý (mús → mýs, ljós → lýsa) and au gives ey (laus → leysa). Words like yfir and eyra must be learned.

þá (then) can repeat the start of the main clause after an ef- or þegar-clause: Ef þú kemur þá förum við saman. Þegar ég kom heim þá var enginn þar. It is optional, but when you use it the verb must come right after þá.

Before an að-clause, a preposition takes a form of það in its own case: Ég hlakka til þess að sjá þig. Hún er vön því að vinna mikið. In many common phrases the pronoun is often left out before an infinitive, but án þess að (without), frá því að (since) and með því að (by doing) always keep it.

auk þess adds a point and þar af leiðandi draws a result: Íbúðin er ódýr og auk þess vel staðsett. Both are adverbs, so at the start of a sentence the verb comes right after them.

enda joins a reason that confirms what was just said: Hún var þreytt, enda hafði hún unnið allan daginn. The verb comes right after enda, before the subject. For a result, use þess vegna instead.

enda þótt and jafnvel þótt strengthen although and take the subjunctive: Jafnvel þótt það rigni förum við út (Even if it rains, we will go out). Hann kom, enda þótt hann væri veikur (He came, even though he was ill). When the clause comes first, the main clause starts with its verb.

hins vegar and aftur á móti link two contrasting statements: Veðrið var gott. Hins vegar var mjög kalt. At the start of a sentence the verb comes next; they can also stand after the verb. Write hins vegar as two words.

After a negative or nearly negative statement, hvað þá adds a bigger step that is even less true: Hann getur varla gengið, hvað þá hlaupið. The added word takes the same form as the word it pairs with.

hvort sem ... eða names two options and says the main clause is true in both cases: Hvort sem það rignir eða ekki förum við út. In everyday speech, sama hvað (no matter what) and sama hvort (no matter whether) do the same job.

hvorugur, hvorug, hvorugt means neither of two: Hvorugur bræðranna kom (Neither of the brothers came). Hvorugt liðið skoraði (Neither team scored). It declines like an adjective, uses neuter for a mixed pair and already contains the "not", so do not add ekki.

In formal Icelandic kunna að + infinitive means may: Það kann að rigna á morgun (It may rain tomorrow). Þetta kann að virðast skrítið (This may seem strange). The past subjunctive kynni að means might. In everyday speech kunna að usually means know how to: Hún kann að synda.

Four prefixes add a meaning to a word: mis- (wrongly or unevenly: misskilja, misjafn), tor- (hard to: torskilinn), ör- (tiny or very: örlítill, örstuttur) and al- (fully, all: alþjóðlegur, alíslenskur). The prefix is written together with the word.

mun and á að can pass on what is reported or likely. Hann mun hafa farið í gær means he is said to have left yesterday. Hún á að vera mjög góður kokkur means she is supposed to be a very good cook. For the past, use hafa + supine: mun hafa farið, á að hafa sagt.

segjast, þykjast and látast take an infinitive about the subject itself: Hún sagðist vera veik (She said she was ill). Hann sagðist hafa séð hana (He said he had seen her). Hann þóttist ekki heyra (He pretended not to hear). There is no að before the infinitive, and an adjective agrees with the subject.

sem sagt sums up, rephrases or checks: Þú kemur sem sagt ekki? (So you are not coming?) Sem sagt, allt í lagi. It is common in speech and is written as two words.

After expressions of feeling, skuli + infinitive presents a fact: Það er leitt að þú skulir ekki geta komið (It's a pity you can't come). Mér finnst skrítið að hann skuli segja þetta (I find it strange that he says this). skuli agrees with the subject, and after a past main clause it becomes skyldi.

telja and álíta can take an accusative and an infinitive without að, a formal way to say believe that: Ég tel hann vera besta manninn í starfið. A word after vera is accusative too. After finnast the noun stays in the nominative: Mér finnst hann vera góður.

verða fyrir + dative means to be hit by or to suffer something: Hann varð fyrir bíl (He was hit by a car). Ég varð fyrir vonbrigðum (I was disappointed). Húsið varð fyrir skemmdum (The house was damaged). The noun after fyrir is always dative.

ýmis means various and sérhver means every single one. Both agree with their noun in gender, number and case. ýmis is usually plural: ýmis vandamál, ýmsir menn, ýmsar leiðir, í ýmsum löndum. sérhver is singular and a little formal: Sérhver nemandi fær bók. Sérhvert barn á rétt á menntun.

Put það before an að-clause to use the whole clause as a noun: Það að hann kom ekki kom mér á óvart. It can also be an object: Ég er ánægð með það að þú komst. það takes the case the sentence needs, so after a word that governs the dative it is því að.

Það er verið að + infinitive describes an action in progress with no named doer: Það er verið að byggja nýjan skóla (A new school is being built). Það er búið að + infinitive describes one that is finished: Það er búið að loka búðinni (The shop has been closed). The object keeps the case its verb needs.

Traditional Icelandic verse uses ljóðstafir: two stuðlar in the first line of a pair and one höfuðstafur at the start of the second line, all starting with the same sound. Vowels alliterate with any vowel, and sk, sl, sm, sn, sp and st only with themselves. Rhymed verse like the ferskeytla still follows these rules.

Icelandic can chain several modal verbs: Hann hlýtur að hafa þurft að fara. Ég hefði viljað geta hjálpað. Each verb decides whether the next takes að, a bare infinitive or a supine.

Formal Icelandic packs a whole clause into að + noun + participle, all in the dative: að loknum fundi (after the meeting), að þessu sögðu (having said this). The participle agrees with the noun.

Formal and older texts use er where modern speech uses sem: sá er þetta ritar (the one who writes this). This er never changes form, and in sagas it can also mean when.

vér (we) appears in older texts, hymns and very formal speeches instead of við: Vér Íslendingar. The object form is oss and the possessive is vor, which often follows the noun: Faðir vor (Our Father).

The formal þér addresses one person politely and takes plural verbs: Hvað viljið þér? Getið þér hjálpað mér? The object form is yður and the possessive is yðar. Today almost everyone says þú instead.

Normally the genitive follows its noun: bók Jóns. In saga titles, religious phrases and poetry it can come first: Njáls saga, Egils saga, Guðs orð. The noun after it has no article.

Formal Icelandic keeps many verbs that take a genitive object: krefjast launa, leita læknis, vænta svars. Everyday speech often uses a preposition or a different verb instead: bíða eftir svari.

Sagas and lively storytelling switch from past to present for vivid moments: Þá kemur maður inn og segir að skipið sé komið. The events are still in the past.

Old Icelandic poetry often replaces a plain word with a kenning, a two-part metaphor. The base word names something else, and a genitive or the first part of a compound points to the real meaning: báru fákur (the wave's steed) is a ship. Many kennings rely on myths, so knowing the stories helps.

When a verb with a dative or accusative subject follows fara að, hljóta að, virðast or geta, the subject keeps that case: Mig er farið að langa heim. The first verb stays in the third person singular.

In older and formal texts you meet hefi and hefir for hef and hefur, kvað and kvaðst for said, mælti for spoke, and gjöra for gera: Það er satt, kvað hann.

You can read the medieval sagas with the grammar you already know. Popular editions use modern spelling, while scholarly editions use an older normalized spelling: ok for og, ek for ég, maðr for maður. A few older forms also appear, such as eigi (not), er (who, which, when) and vér (we).

People from different parts of Iceland understand each other easily, but a few sounds show where someone is from. In the north many speakers say p, t and k with a puff of air (harðmæli), and some voice l, m and n before p, t and k. A few speakers in the south keep a breathy hv. All of these are standard.

Official texts state duties with skal, often in the passive: Umsóknum skal skilað eigi síðar en 1. október. ber takes a dative: Ökumanni ber að virða hámarkshraða.

If the subject slot before the verb is empty, formal Icelandic can fill it with a participle, particle, adjective or ekki: fundurinn sem haldinn var í gær. With a subject present, this move is not possible.

Some younger speakers leave the object after the participle in its own case: það var barið mig, það var hrint mér. This is called the new passive or new impersonal construction. It is not accepted in standard Icelandic. Use the ordinary passive instead: ég var barinn, mér var hrint.

Formal Icelandic can put a separate article before an adjective: hinn íslenski fáni (the Icelandic flag), Hið íslenska bókmenntafélag. The adjective takes the weak form and the noun has no attached article. Everyday speech says íslenski fáninn.

In storytelling, the sagas and news reports, a main-clause statement can start with the verb: Fór hann þá heim (Then he went home). Segir í tilkynningunni að ... (The announcement says that ...). It links the sentence to the one before and is never a question.

eigi is a formal word for not. It goes in the same place as ekki: Hann kom eigi. It lives on in fixed phrases like eigi síðar en (no later than) and eigi að síður (nevertheless).

The passive of verbs of thinking and saying can keep an infinitive: Hann er talinn vera ríkur (He is thought to be rich). Hún er sögð hafa farið (She is said to have left). News reports use this to pass on what others think or say.

Usually sig refers to the subject of its own clause. In a subjunctive that-clause, it can reach the main subject: Jón segir að María elski sig (Jón says María loves him). An indicative clause blocks this.

An indefinite subject (einhver, margir, enginn, a noun without the article) can come after the verb, with það in first place: Það keypti einhver bókina (Someone bought the book). A definite subject cannot: Maðurinn kom.