Where At, Where To and Where From

Level 2

Pick the form by the movement: Hann er inni (He is inside), Komdu inn! (Come in!), að innan (from inside).

How It Works

The three slots.

  • inside: inni (being) · inn (moving in) · innan (from inside)
  • outside: úti · út · utan
  • up: uppi · upp · ofan (from above, coming down)
  • down: niðri · niður · neðan (from below, coming up)
  • here: hér · hingað · héðan
  • there: þar · þangað · þaðan

Most of the "being" forms end in -i (inni, úti, uppi, niðri), and most "from" forms end in -an (innan, utan, ofan, neðan, héðan, þaðan). The words for home work the same way: heima, heim, að heiman (heim / heima).

Being somewhere. Use the first form with verbs like vera, búa and bíða: Hann er úti. Börnin eru uppi. Ég bý hér.

Moving there. Use the second form with verbs like fara, koma and hlaupa: Komdu inn! Farðu út! Komdu hingað! Ég fer þangað á morgun.

Coming from there. héðan and þaðan stand alone: Hvað er langt héðan til Akureyrar? The others usually appear after að: að utan (from outside, also "from abroad"), að ofan (from above), að neðan (from below).

In speech, hérna and þarna are common for hér and þar (hér / þar). The same being/moving split runs through í and á with the dative or accusative.

Examples (6)

  1. Komdu inn!

    Come in!

    inn: movement into a place.

  2. Hann er úti.

    He's outside.

    úti: being outside, no movement.

  3. Börnin eru uppi.

    The kids are upstairs.

    Word by Word: The children are up.

  4. Komdu hingað!

    Come here!

    hingað: movement toward the speaker.

  5. Hvað er langt héðan til Akureyrar?

    How far is it from here to Akureyri?

    Word by Word: What is far from-here to Akureyri?

  6. Hávaðinn kemur að ofan.

    The noise is coming from above.

    Word by Word: The noise comes from above.

Common Mistakes

  • Using hér with a verb of movement.

    Komdu hér!
    Komdu hingað!

    koma is movement, so it needs the "moving there" form hingað. hér is for being here.

  • Using the movement form for being somewhere.

    Hann er inn.
    Hann er inni.

    vera describes where someone is, so use the "being" form inni. inn is for going in.

  • Using þar when you go somewhere.

    Ég fer þar á morgun.
    Ég fer þangað á morgun.

    fara is movement, so "there" must be þangað.

How It Connects

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

Where At, Where To and Where FromLevel 2

Learn This First

Direction adverbs build on heim/heima, hér/þar and movement.

Words in This Pattern

inniinnanútutanuppiuppofanniðriniðurneðanhérhingaðhéðanþarþangaðþaðan