Comparative + en

Than (Comparative + En)

Level 2

After a comparative, en means than: Hann er eldri en ég (He is older than me).

How It Works

The pattern. comparative + en + the thing compared:

  • Hann er eldri en ég (He is older than me)
  • Íslenska er erfiðari en enska (Icelandic is harder than English)
  • Hún talar hraðar en ég (She speaks faster than me)

The case after en. The word after en matches the word it is compared with. In Hann er eldri en ég, hann and ég are both subjects, so both are nominative. English says than me, but Icelandic keeps ég. Ég á fleiri bækur en þú (I have more books than you) compares two subjects in the same way. When you compare two objects, the second one takes the object case: Ég þekki hann betur en hana (I know him better than her).

Times and places. en can be followed by a time or place phrase: Það er kaldara í dag en í gær (It is colder today than yesterday).

Whole clauses. en can be followed by a clause: Þetta var betra en ég hélt (This was better than I thought).

heldur en. In speech you will also hear heldur en with the same meaning: kaldara heldur en í gær. Plain en is the shorter everyday choice.

Same word, two meanings. The same word en also means but. After a comparative it means than. To say two things are equal, use eins ... og instead.

Examples (6)

  1. Hann er eldri en ég.

    He is older than me.

    Word by Word: He is older than I.

  2. Það er kaldara í dag en í gær.

    It is colder today than yesterday.

    Word by Word: It is colder today than yesterday.

  3. Íslenska er erfiðari en enska.

    Icelandic is harder than English.

    Word by Word: Icelandic is harder than English.

  4. Þetta var betra en ég hélt.

    This was better than I thought.

    Word by Word: This was better than I thought.

  5. Hún talar hraðar en ég.

    She speaks faster than me.

    Word by Word: She speaks faster than I.

    hraðar is the comparative of the adverb hratt.

  6. Ég á fleiri bækur en þú.

    I have more books than you.

    Word by Word: I own more books than you.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the accusative after en, like English "than me".

    Hann er eldri en mig.
    Hann er eldri en ég.

    hann and ég are both subjects being compared, so ég stays nominative.

  • Using en to compare things that are equal.

    Hún er eins gömul en ég.
    Hún er eins gömul og ég.

    en goes with a comparative. For as ... as, use eins ... og.

How It Connects

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Comparative + enLevel 2Than (Comparative + En)

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than builds on the comparative.

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Words in This Pattern

en