Months and Dates

Level 2

Months are written small: janúar, febrúar, mars ... í maí = in May. Dates use ordinals: 17. júní is read sautjándi júní.

How It Works

The months. janúar, febrúar, mars, apríl, maí, júní, júlí, ágúst, september, október, nóvember, desember. They are masculine and written with a small letter (small letters). Most of them do not change form.

In a month. Use í: í janúar (in January), í byrjun júní (at the start of June), í lok ágúst (at the end of August).

Writing a date. Write the day as a number with a period, then the month and year: 17. júní 1944. The period marks the number as an ordinal (see ordinal numbers).

Saying a date. Read the number as a masculine ordinal, since it counts days (dagur):

  • Í dag er sautjándi júní. (Today is the seventeenth of June.) Nominative.
  • Ég á afmæli tíunda október. (My birthday is on the tenth of October.) When the date answers "when?", the ordinal takes the accusative: tíunda.

Most ordinals have -i in the nominative and -a in the other cases: fyrsti / fyrsta, fimmti / fimmta. You will also see þann before a date in writing: þann 17. júní.

Years. Say árið before a year: árið 2026 (tvö þúsund tuttugu og sex). See higher numbers.

Examples (5)

  1. Ég fer til Spánar í janúar.

    I'm going to Spain in January.

    Word by Word: I go to Spain in January.

  2. Í dag er sautjándi júní.

    Today is the seventeenth of June.

    Word by Word: In day is seventeenth June.

    17 June is Iceland's National Day.

  3. Ég á afmæli tíunda október.

    My birthday is on the tenth of October.

    Word by Word: I own birthday tenth October.

    The date says when, so the ordinal is accusative: tíunda.

  4. Skólinn byrjar 22. ágúst.

    School starts on 22 August.

    Word by Word: The-school begins 22. August.

    Read tuttugasta og annan ágúst.

  5. Hún fæddist árið 1998.

    She was born in 1998.

    Word by Word: She was-born the-year 1998.

    Read nítján hundruð níutíu og átta.

Common Mistakes

  • Writing a month with a capital letter.

    Ég kem heim í Desember.
    Ég kem heim í desember.

    Icelandic writes month names with a small letter.

  • Leaving out the period after the day number.

    Hún á afmæli 3 maí.
    Hún á afmæli 3. maí.

    In a date the number is an ordinal, and Icelandic marks written ordinals with a period.

  • Reading the day as a plain number.

    Í dag er fimm mars.
    Í dag er fimmti mars.

    Dates use ordinals: fimmti (fifth), not fimm (five).

How It Connects

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

Months and DatesLevel 2

Learn This First

Dates build on days and ordinals.

Words in This Pattern

janúarfebrúarmarsaprílmaíjúníjúlíágústseptemberoktóbernóvemberdesember