Measurements With the Genitive

Level 5

Þetta er bara fimm mínútna ganga. (It's just a five-minute walk.) mínútna is the genitive plural of mínúta.

How It Works

Before a noun.

  • fimm mínútna ganga (a five-minute walk)
  • tíu daga ferð (a ten-day trip)
  • tveggja herbergja íbúð (a two-room flat)
  • tveggja manna herbergi (a double room, literally a two-person room)
  • tveggja lítra flaska (a two-litre bottle)
  • þúsund króna seðill (a thousand-krónur note)

Before an adjective. Age, height and length work the same way: tíu ára gamall (ten years old), tveggja metra hár (two metres tall), fimm metra langur (five metres long). This is why you say ég er ... ára: ára is the genitive plural of ár.

The rest of the phrase declines normally. The measure stays in the genitive, and the noun it describes takes whatever case the sentence needs: Hún á þriggja ára dóttur (dóttur is accusative), Við búum í tveggja herbergja íbúð (íbúð is dative).

Another way after vera. A size can also be given with á + noun, and then the measure is nominative: Hann er tveir metrar á hæð (He is two metres tall).

Examples (6)

  1. Þetta er bara fimm mínútna ganga.

    It's just a five-minute walk.

    Word by Word: This is just five minutes' walk.

  2. Hún á þriggja ára dóttur.

    She has a three-year-old daughter.

    Word by Word: She has three years' daughter.

  3. Við pöntuðum tveggja manna herbergi.

    We booked a double room.

    Word by Word: We ordered two persons' room.

  4. Ég fór í tíu daga ferð um landið.

    I went on a ten-day trip around the country.

    Word by Word: I went in ten days' trip about the-country.

  5. Hann er tæplega tveggja metra hár.

    He is almost two metres tall.

    Word by Word: He is nearly two metres' tall.

  6. Ég keypti tveggja lítra flösku af gosi.

    I bought a two-litre bottle of fizzy drink.

    Word by Word: I bought two litres' bottle of soda.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the nominative of the number.

    Hún á þrjú ára dóttur.
    Hún á þriggja ára dóttur.

    The whole measure is genitive, so the number takes its genitive form too: þriggja.

  • Leaving the unit in the nominative.

    Þetta er bara fimm mínútur ganga.
    Þetta er bara fimm mínútna ganga.

    A measure before a noun is genitive: mínútna, the genitive plural of mínúta.

  • Mixing the nominative number with a genitive unit.

    Hann er tveir metra hár.
    Hann er tveggja metra hár.

    Before an adjective like hár, the number and the unit are both genitive: tveggja metra.

How It Connects

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

Measurements With the GenitiveLevel 5

Learn This First

Measures build on one to four in all cases.

Words in This Pattern

tveggjaþriggjafjögurra