jæja / heyrðu

jæja: well, okay, so. Icelanders use jæja all the time. It shows that the talk is moving on:

• getting ready to leave: Jæja, ég þarf að fara. (Well, I have to go.)
• suggesting the next step: Jæja, eigum við að byrja? (Okay, shall we start?)
• asking for news: Jæja, hvernig gekk prófið? (So, how did the exam go?)
• accepting something: Jæja þá. (All right then.)

Tone of voice matters. Said sharply, jæja can also show that you are impatient or annoyed. Don’t translate English well at the start of a sentence with vel: vel means well only in the sense of in a good way (see adverbs).

heyrðu: hey, listen. heyrðu comes from the verb heyra (hear), with þú joined to it like other commands. It grabs attention before you bring up something new:

• Heyrðu, ég gleymdi að segja þér eitt. (Hey, I forgot to tell you something.)
• Heyrðu, viltu koma í sund á eftir? (Listen, do you want to go swimming later?)

To a group you will often hear heyriði, the spoken form of heyrið þið. With someone you don’t know, such as staff in a shop, afsakið is the polite way to get attention.

More words that keep talk flowing. Heyrumst! (Talk soon!) ends a phone call or a chat. Er það? (Really?) shows interest. Small words like bara, alveg and sko soften or stress what you say.