ég / þú / hann / hún / það

Singular Personal Pronouns

Level 1

ég I · þú you · hann he · hún she · það it. Things follow their noun's gender: bíllinn → hann, bókin → hún, húsið → það.

How It Works

The five pronouns

  • ég: I. Written with a small letter unless it starts the sentence.
  • þú: you, for any one person. See Þú for Everyone.
  • hann: he, or it for a masculine noun.
  • hún: she, or it for a feminine noun.
  • það: it, for a neuter noun, and for a situation or idea: Það er gott. (That is good.) barn (child) is neuter, so a child is það.

Things have hann and hún
Check the noun's gender: síminn (the phone) is hann, taskan (the bag) is hún, kaffið is það.

Agreement shows who you are
An adjective after ég or þú agrees with the person: a man says Ég er þreyttur, a woman Ég er þreytt. See Adjectives Agree With Nouns.

Other forms
As objects these pronouns change: mig, þig, hann, hana, það. See Object Pronouns (Accusative) and Dative Pronouns. Some people who are non-binary use the pronoun hán; see The Pronoun Hán. það is also an empty subject in weather sentences like Það er kalt; see Talking About the Weather.

Examples (6)

  1. Ég er þreytt.

    I am tired.

    Word by Word: I am tired.

    þreytt is the feminine form, so a woman is speaking. A man would say þreyttur.

  2. Þú talar góða íslensku.

    You speak good Icelandic.

    Word by Word: You speak good Icelandic.

  3. Hún heitir Anna og hann heitir Jón.

    Her name is Anna and his name is Jón.

    Word by Word: She is-called Anna and he is-called Jón.

  4. Hvar er bíllinn? Hann er úti.

    Where is the car? It is outside.

    Word by Word: Where is car-the? He is outside.

    bíll is masculine, so the car is hann.

  5. Hvar er bókin? Hún er á borðinu.

    Where is the book? It is on the table.

    Word by Word: Where is book-the? She is on table-the.

    bók is feminine, so the book is hún.

  6. Hvar er kaffið? Það er í eldhúsinu.

    Where is the coffee? It is in the kitchen.

    Word by Word: Where is coffee-the? It is in kitchen-the.

    kaffi is neuter, so it is það.

Common Mistakes

  • Calling a masculine thing það, like English it.

    Hvar er bíllinn? Það er úti.
    Hvar er bíllinn? Hann er úti.

    bíll is a masculine noun, so it is replaced by hann.

  • Using hann for a feminine thing.

    Hvar er bókin? Hann er á borðinu.
    Hvar er bókin? Hún er á borðinu.

    bók is feminine, so the pronoun is hún.

  • Capitalizing ég in the middle of a sentence, as with English I.

    Í dag fer Ég heim.
    Í dag fer ég heim.

    ég takes a capital letter only at the start of a sentence.

How It Connects

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

ég / þú / hann / hún / þaðLevel 1Singular Personal Pronouns

Learn This First

The personal pronouns build on noun gender.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

hannhún