Spelling y, ý and ey

Level 5

fullur → fylla, ljós → lýsa, laus → leysa. A related word with u, jó or au tells you to write y, ý or ey.

How It Works

The main rule. Look for a related word or form:

  • y where a related word has o, u or ju: sonur → synir, fullur → fylla, þungur → þyngri
  • ý where a related word has ú, jú or jó: mús → mýs, hús → hýsa, ljós → lýsa, djúpur → dýpt
  • ey where a related word has au: laus → leysa, draumur → dreyma, hlaupa → hleypa

A tip for verbs. If the past tense has u, the present has y: spurði → spyrja, flutti → flytja, smurði → smyrja. skilja and skildi have no related form with u or o, so they are spelled with i.

Words to learn. Some words have no helpful relative: yfir, fyrir, systir, mynd, byrja, ský, eyra, ey (island), heyra.

Pairs that sound the same.

  • skildi (understood, from skilja) and skyldi (should, from skulu)
  • neita (refuse) and neyta (consume, eat)

This rule is part of the official spelling rules of the Árni Magnússon Institute. For vowel sounds, see æ, au, ei and ey and the accented vowels.

Examples (5)

  1. Viltu fylla glasið mitt?

    Could you fill my glass?

    Word by Word: Want-you fill the-glass my?

    fylla has y because it is related to fullur (full).

  2. Það eru mýs í kjallaranum.

    There are mice in the basement.

    Word by Word: It are mice in the-basement.

    mýs has ý because the singular is mús.

  3. Ég þarf að leysa þetta verkefni.

    I need to solve this task.

    Word by Word: I need to solve this task.

    leysa has ey because it is related to laus (loose, free).

  4. Hann skildi ekki spurninguna.

    He didn't understand the question.

    Word by Word: He understood not the-question.

    skildi comes from skilja, with no u, o or au anywhere, so it has i.

  5. Hvað skyldi þetta kosta?

    I wonder what this costs.

    Word by Word: What should this cost?

    skyldi comes from skulu, which has u, so it has y.

Common Mistakes

  • Writing y in the past of skilja.

    Ég skyldi ekki spurninguna.
    Ég skildi ekki spurninguna.

    skildi (understood) comes from skilja, so it has i. skyldi (should) comes from skulu and is a different word.

  • Writing i in a verb whose past has u.

    Hann ætlar að flitja til Akureyrar.
    Hann ætlar að flytja til Akureyrar.

    The past tense is flutti, with u, so the present is spelled with y: flytja.

  • Writing í in the plural of mús.

    Það eru mís í kjallaranum.
    Það eru mýs í kjallaranum.

    The singular mús has ú, so the plural is spelled with ý: mýs.

How It Connects

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

Spelling y, ý and eyLevel 5

Learn This First

y spelling builds on i-umlaut and the accented vowels.