hér / þar

Here and There (Hér, Þar)

Level 1

hér or hérna means here, and þar or þarna means there: Ég bý hér. Klósettið er þarna.

How It Works

hér and hérna. Both mean here. hérna is the most common form in speech: Ég bý hérna. (I live here.) In speech, hérna is also used as a filler word, like um in English.

þar and þarna. Both mean there. þarna is used when you point: Klósettið er þarna. (The toilet is over there.) þar often refers back to a place already mentioned: Ég bjó í Berlín. Þar lærði ég þýsku. (I lived in Berlin. There I learned German.)

Word order. When hér or þar starts the sentence, the verb comes next: Hér er kaffið þitt. (Here is your coffee.) See verb-second word order.

Being or moving. hér and þar say where something is or happens. When something moves to or from a place, Icelandic uses other words:

  • here: hér (at), hingað (to), héðan (from)
  • there: þar (at), þangað (to), þaðan (from)

Komdu hingað! (Come here!) Ég fer þangað á morgun. (I am going there tomorrow.) You will also hear Komdu hérna! in everyday speech, but Komdu hingað! is the standard way to say Come here! The full set is in direction adverbs.

Examples (6)

  1. Ég bý hér.

    I live here.

    Word by Word: I live here.

  2. Hér er kaffið þitt.

    Here is your coffee.

    Word by Word: Here is coffee-the your.

    hér comes first, so the verb er comes next.

  3. Klósettið er þarna.

    The toilet is over there.

    Word by Word: Toilet-the is there.

  4. Það er gott að búa hérna.

    It is nice to live here.

    Word by Word: It is good to live here.

  5. Ég bjó í Berlín. Þar lærði ég þýsku.

    I lived in Berlin. There I learned German.

    Word by Word: I lived in Berlin. There learned I German.

    þar points back to Berlin.

  6. Komdu hingað!

    Come here!

    Word by Word: Come-you hither!

    For movement to a place, standard Icelandic uses hingað (to here).

Common Mistakes

  • Using þar for the place you are going to.

    Ég fer þar á morgun.
    Ég fer þangað á morgun.

    To say where you are going, use þangað (to there). þar says where something is or happens, not where you go.

  • Keeping subject-first order after hér.

    Hér kaffið er.
    Hér er kaffið.

    When hér starts the sentence, the verb must come second: Hér er kaffið.

How It Connects

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

hér / þarLevel 1Here and There (Hér, Þar)

Learn This First

hér and þar build on where-questions.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

hérhérnaþarþarnahingaðþangað