Colloquial Icelandic: The Complete Course for Beginnersindex-of.es/Varios-2/Colloquial Icelandic...

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Colloquial Icelandic

The Colloquial Series Series adviser Gary King

The following languages are available in the Colloquial series Afrikaans Korean Albanian Latvian Amharic Lithuanian Arabic (Levantine) Malay Arabic of Egypt Mongolian Arabic of the Gulf and Norwegian Saudi Arabia Panjabi Basque Persian Bulgarian Polish Cambodian Portuguese Cantonese Portuguese of Brazil Chinese Romanian Croatian and Serbian Russian Czech Scottish Gaelic Danish Slovak Dutch Slovene Estonian Somali Finnish Spanish French Spanish of Latin America German Swedish Greek Thai Gujarati Turkish Hindi Ukrainian Hungarian Urdu Indonesian Vietnamese Italian Welsh Japanese

Accompanying cassette(s) (and CDs) are available for the above titles They can be ordered through your bookseller or send payment with order to Taylor amp FrancisRoutledge Ltd ITPS Cheriton House North Way Andover Hants SP10 5BE UK or to Routledge Inc 29 West 35th Street New York NY 10001 USA

COLLOQUIAL CD-ROMs Multimedia Language Courses Available in Chinese French Portuguese and Spanish

Colloquial Icelandic The Complete Course for Beginners

Daisy LNeijmann

London and New York

First published 2001 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane London EC4P 4EE

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street New York NY 10001

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor amp Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor amp Francis e-Library 2006

ldquoTo purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor amp Francis or Routledgersquos collection of thousands of eBooks please go to httpwwwebookstoretandfcoukrdquo

copy 2001 Daisy LNeijmann

All rights reserved No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic mechanical or other means now known or hereafter invented including

photocopying and recording or in any information storage or retrieval system without permission in writing from the publishers

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Neijmann Daisy L 1963ndash Colloquial Icelandic the complete course for beginners Daisy LNeijmann p cmmdash(Colloquials) Includes

index 1 Icelandic language-Textbooks for foreign speakers-English 2 Icelandic Language-Spoken Icelandic I Title II Colloquial series PD2413 N45 2001 4396983421ndashdc21 00ndash

047062

ISBN 0-203-99545-7 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-415-20706-1 (Print Edition) (book) ISBN 0-415-20707-X (Print Edition) (cassettes)

ISBN 0-415-20708-8 (Print Edition) (book and cassettes course)

Contents

Acknowledgements vii

Abbreviations viii

Introduction 1

The sounds and letters of Icelandic 4

1 Velkomin til Iacuteslands Welcome to Iceland 11

2 Hvaethan ert thornuacute Where are you from 26

3 Hvert foumlrum vieth Where are we going 41

4 Eacuteg aeligtla aeth faacutehellipHvaeth verethur thornetta mikieth I would like to gethellipHow much will that be 59

5 Foumlt Clothing 72

6 Aacute fereth og flugi On the move 87

7 Daglegt liacutef Daily life 104

8 Verethi thorneacuter aeth goacuteethu Enjoy your meal 117

9 Fjoumllskyldan The family 134

10 Stefnumoacutet Appointments 145

11 Gisting Accommodation 156

12 Toacutemstundir Spare time 168

13 Iacutesland Iceland 182

14 Saga og thornjoacuteeth Story history and people 195

15 Houmlfueth herethar hneacute og taeligr Head and shoulders knees and toes 206

16 Gangi thorneacuter vel Good luck 218

Grammar summary 231

Glossary of grammatical terms 239

Key to exercises 242

Glosses of reading passages 257

Icelandic-English glossary 268

English-lcelandic glossary 310

Index 329

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Morgunblaethieth Talnakoumlnnun (formerly Nesuacutetgaacutefan) DV and Tiacutemarit Reykjaviacutek for permission to use various extracts and articles to Ferethaskrifstofan Nonni to use their advertisement to Joacuten Giacuteslason and Sigriacuteethur thornorvaldsdoacutettir to use excerpts from their book Landsteinar to Gerethur Kristnyacute and Eliacutesabet THORNorgeirsdoacutettir to use excerpts from their articles to Hoacutetel Borg for permission to print their menu Warmest thanks are extended to my generous and patient Icelandic friends Aacuterni thornoacuter Eymundsson Katriacuten Eymundsdoacutettir and Antoniacutea Sveinsdoacutettir who were kind enough to read and correct the manuscript during its various stages fielded my many questions and contributed valuable insights Thanks also go to the friendly and helpful staff at Routledge especially to Gary King whose encouragement and assistance during the early writing stages were important Final thanks to Wil Neijmann who passed on to me his love of languages and the joy of language learning and as always to Mark for his patience and love

Every effort has been made to obtain permission to reproduce copyright material If any proper acknowledgement has not been made or permission not received we would invite copyright holders to inform us of the oversight

Abbreviations acc accusative

adj adjective

adv adverb

comp comparative

conj conjunction

dat dative

dem demonstrative

excl exclamation

ffem feminine

gen genitive

imp imperative

impers impersonal

indecl indeclinable

inf infinitive

inter interrogative

interj interjection

intrans intransitive

lit literally

mmasc masculine

nneut neuter

nom nominative

num numeral

pl plural

pp past participle

pref prefix

prep preposition(al)

pron pronoun

refl reflexive

sgsing singular

subj subjunctivesubject

superl superlative

trans transitive

vvb verb

Introduction

Icelandic is a fascinating language Dating back to Viking times with less than 300000 speakers and a history that has kept it relatively free from major changes it has captured the interest of many enthusiasts over the course of time

People are attracted to Icelandic for many different reasons For some it is the romantic lure of learning the language of the Vikings Others want to be able to appreciate the Icelandic sagas or Eddic poems in the original You may be intrigued by the linguistic antiquity of Icelandic Perhaps Icelandic was the language of your ancestors Or maybe you are simply planning a trip to Iceland and you wish to communicate with Icelanders in their own language Whatever it is that motivated you to pick up this book you are interested in learning Icelandic or in keeping up and improving your Icelandic This course may be just what you need

Iceland

Iceland is an island in the North Atlantic 103000 km2 in size hugging the Arctic Circle Geologically Iceland is young and in many ways still lsquoin the makingrsquo volcanic and geothermal activity determine much of Icelandrsquos landscape as do glaciers mountains lava deserts green valleys and clear rich waters The warm Gulf Stream moderates the climate with a mean annual temperature in Reykjaviacutek of 5degC

The island was settled in the ninth century largely by Norse people from western Norway and the British Isles and their Celtic companions The settler community established its own national assembly resembling a parliament and called the Althorningi and officially adopted Christianity in the year 1000 In 1262ndash4 Iceland became subject to the Norwegian crown and in 1380 it came under Danish rule Iceland eventually regained its independence in stages it obtained home rule in 1918 and became an independent republic in 1944

Today Iceland has approximately 270000 inhabitants about half of whom live in the capital Reykjaviacutek and its surroundings The Icelandic economy largely depends on the

fishing industry which makes up of the GNP Since only 1 per cent of the land is arable dairy and sheep farming are more common than arable farming and woollens and mountain lamb are among Icelandrsquos exports Iceland is rich in natural energy geothermal heat is used to heat houses and greenhouses and electricity is generated from water power

Icelandic

Icelandic is part of the North Germanic language group and developed from the Viking Age West Norse speech brought by the settlers Icelandic first appears as a separate language in the twelfth century when the anonymous author of The First Grammatical Treatise introduced a special alphabet to suit the needs of Icelandic Writing was introduced by the Church along with influences from Latin English and French

The remarkable body of literature recorded in Iceland during the following centuries and the translation of the Bible into Icelandic after the Reformation in the sixteenth century were instrumental for the continuity of Icelandic under foreign domination when the influence of Danish became pervasive

During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Icelandic language and literature came to play a crucial role in the nationalist struggle for independence The nationalists developed language policies to purify Icelandic from foreign influences Today many of these policies are still in place a special language board creates words for new phenomena from the resources of the Icelandic language itself Nevertheless Icelandic adopts its share of loan words every year some of which live a long and happy life alongside their Icelandic neologist equivalents Where loan words win out they are usually adapted to Icelandic grammar and spelling and will often take on a new meaning in the Icelandic context Icelanders have been remarkably successful in making their ancient language fully compatible with todayrsquos global computerized world a knowledge of modern Icelandic will allow relatively easy access to a fourteenth-century Icelandic saga as well as a discussion of the latest concepts in marketing or Internet communication


This course is designed to guide the learner who may not have any previous language-learning experience from complete beginner to basic communicative competence enough to converse in a range of common situations Each of the sixteen lessons contains a systematic presentation of several grammatical issues The grammar and pronunciation can be learned practically through the accompanying exercises and situational dialogues The aim is to help the learner achieve a command of contemporary colloquial vocabulary and the basic structures through exposure to dialogues and exercises based on everyday realistic experiences By the end of the course the learner can expect to be able to

bull converse socially exchange information and relate daily experiences bull obtain information pertaining to travel and tourism bull shop and make business arrangements

Colloquial icelandic the complete course for beginners 2

Learning Icelandic

Learning a language is an exciting experience It is a lot like being a child again you begin mute you learn by exposure and repetition and in the process you are discovering a new world The main requirements are interest and determination Enjoying your study will make your progress easier and more fun and will more than make up for the difficulties you may encounter

Regular study habits are highly recommended yoursquoll find that a page a day will pay off more than a chapter once a week Remember that exposure alone is beneficial toomdashyou donrsquot always need to be lsquostudyingrsquo listening to your tape in your car or walkman practising words and phrases while walking or doing dishes will all help

This is particularly true of Icelandic which is an inflected language (ie words change form to express grammatical information) and has a vocabulary largely new even to speakers of another Germanic language At first this may seem rather daunting and your initial progress may appear slow Donrsquot worry with time regular practice and an open mind even these complex aspects of Icelandic will gradually fall into place Enjoy

Introduction 3

The sounds and letters of Icelandic

Icelandic pronunciation

Generally speaking there is a much more direct correspondence between spelling and sound in Icelandic than in English On the other hand some Icelandic sounds are either foreign to English speakers or subtly but importantly different from English or other Icelandic sounds Students are advised to pay close attention from the start and continue to practise Icelandic pronunciation throughout the course it is important to develop an ear for the subtleties and intricacies of Icelandic as well as the ability to integrate them into your own pronunciation Play with the sounds until they feel good in your mouth Many Icelanders are proud of their language and will berate Icelander and foreigner alike for treating it with disrespect

The following is an introduction to Icelandic pronunciation which is meant as a practical guide to which students can refer as they progress through the course It is by no means exhaustive but it will allow the learner to grasp the basics and communicate in a comprehensible and acceptable manner The recordings will help you with the sounds and the phonetic symbols (based on the International Phonetic Alphabet) enclosed in square brackets allow you to find out how to produce them exactly1 English approximations are also provided where possible but they are poor substitutes for the actual Icelandic sounds

1 Guides to the IPA are easily available Since the phonetic alphabet is based on sound production rather than spelling it is particularly helpful as a guide to sounds you find difficult to reproduce

Vowels

We begin with a list of Icelandic vowels and their sounds in Icelandic divided into monophthongs (one sound) and diphthongs (combinations of two sounds where one lsquoslidesrsquo towards another)

IPA Symbol Letter English approximation Icelandic examplesMonophthongs [a] a father ta taska kaka [ε] e bed drekka [jε] eacute yes eacuteg [I] i win litur [i] iacute keep liacuteta [I] y win thornykja [i] yacute keep myacutes

o toffee lofa

[oslash] u (say lsquoirsquo as in lsquowinrsquo but with rounded lips) hundur upp [u] uacute lose thornuacute [œ] ouml girl houmlnd oumlr Diphthongs [au] aacute now blaacuter [ou] oacute note2 roacutes [ai] aelig kind baeligr

Note that the accented vowels in Icelandic are individual sounds completely different in quality from their unaccented counterparts Compare the following pairs

alamdashaacutel temdashteacute friethurmdashfriethur fyrstmdashfyacutest logamdashloacutea utanmdashuacutet

The following are special vowel combinations which always correspond to the following sounds

2 Icelandic oacute is a diphthong which means that pronunciation starts with the [o] sound but then moves (lsquoslidesrsquo) towards an [u] (as in lose) The sound roughly resembles standard southern English pronunciation of lsquoorsquo but is more open and rounded

[œy] au (start with an ouml and then gradually lift your tongue) auga haust thornau[εi] eiey case skeieth

Consonants

In English as well as Icelandic consonants can be voiced or unvoiced If you pronounce English lsquodrsquo and lsquotrsquo lsquovrsquo and lsquofrsquo lsquozrsquo and lsquosrsquo while holding your hand against your throat you will notice the vibration when you pronounce the voiced consonant in each pair The voiced or unvoiced quality of consonants is subject to change consonants may become voiced or devoiced when in a voiced or unvoiced environment This is a significant aspect of Icelandic pronunciation For instance an unvoiced consonant surrounded by vowels will usually become voiced in Icelandic while the fully unvoiced h causes any following consonant to become devoiced Devoicing sometimes causes difficulties for students It helps if you imagine an h before the consonant in question or try blowing a lot of air when your pronounce the sound It is important to practise this as devoicing can mean the difference between two separate words

vandamdashva[h]nta lambiethmdashla[h]mpi vergurmdashve[h]rkur

You will see in the following list of Icelandic consonants how almost every voiced sound has a devoiced counterpart Check the examples and notice how the devoiced version occurs before unvoiced consonant(s) or after h There are three consonants that are always voiced in English but never voiced in Icelandic b d g The only difference in

The sounds and letters of icelandic 5

pronunciation between b d g and p t k is that in initial positions b d g do not become aspirated (burst of air suddenly released as in English thake) while p t k do

[p] b wrap bera [t] d wet dama[t] t wet sitja [th] word initial t take taka [eth] eth3 weather maethur

3 Never occurs initially and often dropped in final positions er thorna(eth) Blaethi(eth) er komi(eth) [θ] eth thought maethkur [θ] thorn thought iacutethornroacutett [j] j young jaacute

j [h]yes hjaacute hjarta

[l] l laugh laeligra [ldeg] l [h]l stuacutelka hlyacuter [m] m mum mamma [mdeg] m [h]m lampi skammtur[r] r red4 raacuteethherra [rdeg] r [h]r hratt thornurrka [s] s song saacutel visa5 [xs] x wax6 lax vaxa

The following consonants can be pronounced in different ways depending on the combinations in which they occur

[f] f find ferfaldur [v] around vowels f voice sofa [p] before l n fl fn tap Keflaviacutek [m] before nd fnd jam hefnd [mdeg] before nt fnt [h]m nefnt [h] h hello haacuter [kh] before v7 hv quality

without rounding the lips

hvaeth

[k] k wick raka before e i iacute yyacute aelig eiey [kh]

4 Icelandic has a front rolling r much like a Scottish one where the tip of the tongue trills against the alveolar ridge (behind the upper front teeth) While some people may find this very difficult it is worth practising since it is a significant feature of Icelandic speech 5 In Icelandic s never becomes voiced in pronunciation 6 The actual sound [x] does not exist in English and may be hard to produce at first It is akin to the ch in Scottish lsquolochrsquo or German lsquoDachrsquo Try pronouncing a k but instead of stopping the airflow altogether slowly let it through releasing the air only gradually The friction this produces creates the distinctive quality of the sound


7 Hv is also sometimes pronounced with the h sounding like the [x] described in footnote 4 This speech variant is found in southern Iceland and is considered by some to be lsquobetterrsquo Icelandic

[kh] word initial k king kalla becomes [ch] (ie pushed more to the front) [x] before t kt kktminus8 oktoacuteber kisa keyra [n] n name nenna [ndeg] before t nt [h]n svunta

hnerra

before g ng long langur preceding a i

u become aacute iacute uacute and

before k nk [h]nk blankur e and ouml

become ei and au as in flinkur munkur enginn soumlngur

The pronunciation of g in Icelandic often causes problems for students because it varies so much and some of the variants can be tricky to master so pay close attention to g from the start

[k] word initial9 g wick glaacutepa [c] before e iiacute y yacute aelig eiey geta10

between vowel and -l -n g logn after vowels and before a u eth r

gminus11 flugavegurdagur

word final g lag

8 There is no English equivalent See footnote 6 9 An important exception is the word Gueth lsquoGodrsquo where a v is inserted after g in the pronunciation 10 This sound is like [ch] spelled k but it is not aspirated 11 There is no English equivalent This sound in the voiced counterpart of [x] explained in footnote 6 as you gradually let the air out try to give the sound more lsquovoicersquo (ie vocal cords vibrate) You

can tell the difference between [x] and if you listen closely [x] sounds breathy or lsquothroatyrsquo

while sounds very soft almost like a [j] (as in young) but further down in your throat [x] after vowels

and before t sg mdash dragt

[j] between voweland -i -j

gi gj young lygi segja

mdash dropped between oacute aacute uacuteand a u

g mdash fljuacutega


Double consonants

Double consonants in Icelandic are twice as long in pronunciation as single consonants so try to linger on them

pabbi Maggi Snorri mamma

Some double consonants have a slightly different pronunciation from their single equivalents

1 ll is pronounced tl except in loan words and pet names

stoacutell bolli milli troumlll Paacutell but bolla mylla troll Palli

2 nn is pronounced tn after an accented vowel or a diphthong12

fiacutenn bruacutenn einn but finna brunnur enn

3 pp tt kk are pronounced as hp ht hk13 This may take some practice

stoppa detta thornakka

Stress and length

In Icelandic the main stress is always on the first syllable of a word Although that is easy enough to remember it may demand some extra attention in certain familiar loan words

12 Such so-called t-insertion also generally occurs between rl rn sl sn which become rtl rtn stl stn as in Erla Oumlrn rasl bysna 13 This also usually happens before pl pn tl tn kl kn when in between vowels hnupla opna kiacutetla fitna Hekla fiacutekn

votur toumlffararnir banani desember14

Compound words of which the first element consists of more than one syllable get a secondary stress on the first syllable of the second element


haacuteskoacutela kennari hjarta knuacutesari

Unstressed syllables are always short in Icelandic Stressed syllables are always long except

1 before double consonants

tapa lama but labba djamma

2 before consonant clusters excepting p t k s followed by v j or r

minstur haust but lepja siacutetrona

The Icelandic alphabet

The Icelandic alphabet uses 32 letters Another four letters are only used for writing foreign words one of which z used to be quite common but has since been abolished Here are the Icelandic letters and their pronunciation

a a j joeth aacute aacute k kaacute b beacute l ell d deacute m emm eth eeth n enn e e o o eacute eacute oacute oacute f eff p peacute g ge r err h haacute s ess i i t teacute iacute iacute u u

14 To avoid unclarity in the pronunciation of longer words secondary stress may also occur on the third syllable of words that are not compounds siacutega retta appel siacutena

uacute uacute yacute ufsilon yacutev vaff thorn thornorn x ex aelig aelig y ufsilon y ouml ouml

The following are foreign letters c seacute w tvoumlfalt vaffq kuacute z seta


Names can be spelled out as follows Seacute o ell iacute enn=lsquoColinrsquo emm a err ufsilon y=lsquoMaryrsquo ess a ess kaacute a teacute seacute haacute e tvoumlfalt vaff a enn =lsquoSaskatchewanrsquo Can you spell your own name in Icelandic

You are probably wondering how you can remember all of this Donrsquot worry you do not need to absorb this in one go Remember a little bit a day works better than a whole chunk at once Many aspects of Icelandic pronunciation will gradually fall into place as you progress and in the meantime you can always come back to this section for practice and reference


1 Velkomin til Iacuteslands

Welcome to Iceland In this lesson you will learn about

bull singular nominative nouns pronouns and articlesbull gender bull greetings and courtesies bull word order questions and answers bull veraheita in singular present bull present continuous (-ing) bull Icelandic names

Dialogue 1

Aacute flugstoumleth Leifs Eiriacutekssonar

Joyce Williams has just arrived at the airport to visit Iceland for the first time She is looking for information on how to get to her hotel Can you tell Where Joycersquos hotel is Where the bus stops

JOYCE Goacuteethan daginn JOacuteN Goacuteethan dag JOYCE Fyrirgefethu getur thornuacute sagt meacuter hvar Hoacutetel Iacutesland er JOacuteN Hoacutetel Iacutesland er iacute Reykjaviacutek JOYCE Er thornetta ekki Reykjaviacutek JOacuteN Nei flugstoumlethin er iacute Keflaviacutek en thornaeth er ruacuteta sem fer til Reykjaviacutekur Huacuten kemur vieth

aacute Hoacutetel Iacuteslandi Ruacutetan stoppar heacuterna reacutett fyrir utan JOYCE THORNakka thorneacuter kaeligrlega fyrir Eacuteg heiti Joyce Williams JOacuteN Joacuten Einarsson heiti eacuteg Velkomin til Iacuteslands Hvaethan ert thornuacute JOYCE Eacuteg er Englendingur JOacuteN En thornuacute talar iacuteslensku JOYCE Svoliacutetieth eacuteg er aeth laeligra iacuteslensku Jaeligja takk fyrir hjaacutelpina JOacuteN THORNaeth var ekkert Vertu blessueth JOYCE Blessaethur

At the Leif Eiriksson airport terminal

JOYCE Good afternoon JOacuteN Good afternoon JOYCE Excuse me can you tell me where Hotel Iacutesland is JOacuteN Hotel Iacutesland is in Reykjaviacutek JOYCE Is this not Reykjaviacutek JOacuteN No the airport is in Keflaviacutek but there is a coach that goes to Reykjaviacutek It stops at

Hotel Iacutesland The coach stops right outside here JOYCE Thank you very much My name is Joyce Williams JOacuteN Joacuten Einarsson is my name Welcome to Iceland Where are you from JOYCE I am English JOacuteN But you speak Icelandic JOYCE A little I am learning Icelandic Well thanks for your help JOacuteN Not at all Goodbye JOYCE Goodbye

Vocabulary notes flugstoumleth Leifs airport terminal huacuten she (here Eiriacutekssonar Leif Eiriacuteksson referring (the main to the coach) terminal at kemur vieth stops at calls on Keflaviacutek Inter (from koma) national Airport) reacutett fyrir utan right outside fyrirgefethu excuse me (lit thornakka thorneacuter fyrir thank you (lit lsquoforgive you lsquothank you for [me]rsquo) [this]rsquo) getur thornuacute sagt can you tell heiti am called (frommeacuterhellip mehellip heita) thornaeth er itthere is hvaethan wherehellipfrom ruacuteta coach Englendingur someone from fer goes (from fara) England

talar speak talk (from tala) hjaacutelpina the help (from hjaacutelp) iacuteslensku Icelandic (from iacuteslenska) thornaeth var ekkert donrsquot mention it not at all yoursquore aeth laeligra learn (here learning) welcome (lit lsquoit was nothingrsquo)


Language points

Nouns and gender

Nouns in Icelandic are either masculine feminine or neuter The gender of Icelandic nouns is grammatical which means that it relates to the form of a noun rather than its meaning The endings of nouns often help determine their gender

Masculine nouns usually end in -ur or -iacute or -ll or -nn (karl)maethur lsquomanrsquo lampi lsquolamprsquo stoacutell lsquochairrsquo steinn lsquostonersquo

Feminine nouns often end in -a or have no ending (-0) at all while nouns with final -ing or -un are usually feminine ruacuteta roacutes lsquorosersquo spurning lsquoquestionrsquo verslun lsquoshoprsquo

Neuter nouns generally have no ending (-0) Final accented vowels almost always indicate a neuter noun boreth lsquotablersquo bakariacute lsquobakeryrsquo

To help you determine whether a noun has an ending or not the vocabulary notes and glossary show you by way of a slash where the ending of a noun starts as in maethur lampi stoacutell ruacuteta If there is no slash the noun has no ending as is the case in roacutes spurning verslun boreth and bakariacute Did you notice that in the case of stoacutell only the second -l constitutes the actual ending This also goes for the second -n in nouns ending in -nn The gender of a noun is extremely important in Icelandic because it determines the form of many other words in the sentence It is thus essential to learn how to recognize this and quickly get into the habit of determining the gender of nouns

Exercise 1

Can you determine the gender of the following Icelandic nouns flugvoumlllur lsquoairportrsquo taska lsquobagrsquo lsquocasersquo biacutell lsquocarrsquo dagur lsquodayrsquo kona lsquowomanrsquo iacuteslenska Englendingur stafur lsquoletterrsquo hjaacutelp hoacutetel flugstoumleth

Were you able to tell that hjaacutelp and flugstoumleth are feminine but hoacutetel is neuter without checking the answers Most likely not In the case of nouns without an ending you will have to rely on memory (or other clues in the text if there are any as you will learn later) so when you learn a new noun make it a habit to memorize its gender along with its meaning In those cases where it is impossible to determine the gender of a new noun the vocabulary notes and the glossary at the back of the book will tell you

If you go back to Dialogue 1 you will notice that Joyce says eacuteg er Englendingur even though Englendingur is a masculine noun and Joyce is a woman The gender of a noun is predetermined and always remains the same irrespective of the sex of the person it is applied to

Articles

Icelandic does not have a separate indefinite article like English lsquoarsquoor lsquoanrsquo This means that a noun like dagur can be translated into English as both lsquodayrsquo and lsquoa dayrsquo The

Velkomin til Iacuteslands 13

Icelandic definite article (English lsquothersquo) is added to the end of a noun like a suffix and has different forms depending on the gender of the noun it is added to

Masculine nouns get -inn or just -nn if the noun ends in a vowel dagurinn lampinn Feminine nouns get -in or just -n if the noun ends in a vowel flugstoumlethin ruacutetan Neuter nouns get -ieth or just -eth if the final letter is an unaccented vowel hoacutetelieth

herbergieth (from herbergi lsquoroomrsquo a neuter noun of which the -i is not an ending) but bakariacuteieth

Exercise 2

Now add the correct form of the definite article to all remaining nouns in Exercise 1

Personal pronouns

The definite article is only one example of how the gender of nouns affects other parts of speech in a sentence Another example is personal pronouns When referring back to a noun Icelandic pronouns must reflect the gender of that noun irrespective of meaning In Dialogue 1 we heard Joacuten Einarsson say about the coach huacuten stoppar heacuterna lit lsquoshe stops herersquo While it may sound strange in English to refer to an inanimate object as lsquohersquo or lsquoshersquo in Icelandic it makes perfect sense to do so Obviously however personal pronouns can also be used to refer directly to a particular individual and will in that case reflect the sex of that individual

The following are the singular personal pronouns in Icelandic eacuteg I thornuacute you hann he huacuten she thornaeth it

Dialogue 2

Magnuacutes bumps into his friend Aacutesdiacutes and her acquaintance Raj Where is Raj from Where is he going

MAGNUacuteS Komdu saeligl og blessueth Aacutesdiacutes AacuteSDIacuteS Saeligll og blessaethur Magnuacutes Gaman aeth sjaacute thornig Hvaeth segirethu gott MAGNUacuteS Allt fiacutent en thornuacute AacuteSDIacuteS Allt aacutegaeligtt MAGNUacuteS THORNaeth er gott aeth heyra Og hver er thornetta AacuteSDIacuteS THORNetta er Raj Aluwahlia kunningi minn MAGNUacuteS Komdu saeligll Raj Magnuacutes Giacuteslason heiti eacuteg Ert thornuacute uacutetlendingur RAJ Jaacute eacuteg er fraacute Kanada Eacuteg er nuacutena iacute friacutei aacute Iacuteslandi MAGNUacuteS THORNuacute talar mjoumlg goacuteetha iacuteslensku RAJ Takk fyrir thornaeth er gaman aeth heyra


MAGNUacuteS Jaeligja og hvaeth aeligtlar thornuacute aeth gera nuacutena Raj RAJ Eacuteg er aeth fara iacute Blaacutea Loacutenieth Ruacutetan fer eftir smaacutestund MAGNUacuteS Maacute bjoacuteetha thorneacuter far RAJ Jaacute thornakka thorneacuter kaeligrlega fyrir AacuteSDIacuteS Allt iacute lagi vertu blessaethur Magnuacutes THORNaeth var gaman aeth hitta thornig MAGNUacuteS Soumlmuleiethis vertu blessueth AacuteSDIacuteS Vieth sjaacuteumst Raj blessaethur RAJ Bless MAGNUacuteS Hello Aacutesdiacutes AacuteSDIacuteS Hello Magnuacutes Good to see you How are you MAGNUacuteS Irsquom fine and you AacuteSDIacuteS Irsquom fine MAGNUacuteS Thatrsquos good to hear And who is this AacuteSDIacuteS This is Raj Aluwahlia an acquaintance of mine MAGNUacuteS Hello Raj Magnuacutes Giacuteslason is my name Are you from abroad RAJ Yes Irsquom from Canada I am presently on holiday in Iceland MAGNUacuteS You speak very good Icelandic RAJ Thank you thatrsquos nice to hear MAGNUacuteS And what are you going to do now Raj RAJ I am going to the Blue Lagoon The coach is leaving in a little while MAGNUacuteS Can I offer you a lift RAJ Yes thank you very much AacuteSDIacuteS All right goodbye Magnuacutes It was nice to meet you MAGNUacuteS Likewise Goodbye AacuteSDIacuteS See you Raj bye RAJ Bye

Vocabulary notes gaman aeth sjaacute thornig good to see you (gaman lsquofunrsquo lsquogreatrsquo lsquonicersquo and sjaacute lsquoseersquo) thornaeth er gott aeth heyra

that is good to hear (gott from goacuteethur lsquogoodrsquo and heyra lsquohearrsquo)

uacutetlendingur m foreigner iacute friacutei on holidays (from friacute n lsquoholidaysrsquo lsquovacationrsquo lsquooffrsquo) Iacuteslandi from Iacutesland n

Iceland

Blaacutea Loacutenieth the Blue Lagoon a famous natural pool of warm geothermal sea-water rich in minerals silica and blue green algae and renowned for its healing powers

allt iacute lagi okay all right soumlmuleiethis likewise same to you same here

Greetings and courtesies

As you may have noticed in the preceding dialogue a number of greetings in Icelandic have slightly different forms depending on whether one is addressing a male or a female


Here are some common Icelandic greetings and courtesies with their male and female forms where applicable

How do you do 1 Semi-formal Komdu saeligll to a man Komdu saeligl to a woman 2 Informal Komdu blessaethur Komdu saeligll og blessaethur to a man Komdu blessaethur og saeligll Komdu blessueth Komdu saeligl og blessueth to a woman Komdu blessueth og saeligl Hello how are you 1 Hello Saeligll Blessaethur to a man Saeligll og blessaethur Saeligl Blessueth to a woman Saeligl og blessueth 2 How are you Q Hvaeth segirethu (gott) lit lsquoWhat do you sayrsquo A Allt gott Allt fiacutent en thornuacute Allt aacutegaeligtt

lit lsquoEverything goodfineokay and yoursquo

Q Hvernig hefurethu thornaeth lit lsquoHow do you have itrsquo A (Eacuteg hef thornaeth) bara gottfiacutent en thornuacute lit lsquo(I have it) just fine and yoursquo

Q Hvaeth er aeth freacutetta (af thorneacuter) lit lsquoWhatrsquos the news (from you)rsquo

A Allt gott lit lsquoEverything Allt fiacutent en hjaacute thorneacuter goodfineokay Allt aacutegaeligtt and from yoursquo Good day Goacuteethan daginn Goacuteethan dag

lit lsquogood dayrsquo is the equivalent of English lsquogood morningrsquo and lsquogood afternoonrsquo and is a widely used greeting in formal situations (going into shops classrooms offices etc) It is also used in informal situations first thing in the morning after one gets up

Gott kvoumlld Goacuteetha kvoumlldieth

lsquoGood eveningrsquo used after 6 pm as above

Goacuteetha noacutett Good night

Goodbye Same as lsquohow-do-you-dorsquo but replace komdu with vertu

vertu saeligllsaeligl vertu blessaethurblessueth

In informal situations it is also common to use


bless bless or just bless

the equivalent of lsquobye (bye)rsquo in English or

vieth sjaacuteumst see you (lit lsquowe [will] see each otherrsquo)

Thank you 1 Semi-formal THORNakka thorneacuter (kaeligrlega) fyrir lit lsquoThank you (kindly very much)rsquo2 Informal Takk (fyrir)

A THORNaeth var ekkert lsquoThanksrsquo lit lsquoIt was nothingrsquo not at all

Other common courtesies 1 Excuse me Fyrirgefethu Afsakieth 2 Welcome Velkominn

Velkomin to a man to a woman

3 Can you tell me (wherehellipis) Getur thornuacute sagt meacuter (hvarhelliper)4 Q lsquoWhat is your namersquo Hvaeth heitir thornuacute A lsquoMy name ishelliprsquo Eacuteg heitihellip 5 Q lsquoWhere are you fromrsquo Hvaethan ert thornuacute A lsquo(I am) fromhelliprsquo (Eacuteg er) fraacutehellip 6 lsquoWhat is this called in Icelandicrsquo Hvaeth heitir thornetta aacute iacuteslensku 7 lsquoCan I offer you (a ride a seat a coffee)rsquo Maacute bjoacuteetha thorneacuter (far saeligti kaffi)

Athugieth (NB)

In Iceland the distinction between semi-formal and informal is not quite the same as in for instance the UK In Iceland everyone is addressed by their first name without any titles irrespective of social standing or age While it is common to greet a complete stranger with more formality than a friend it is unlikely you will seriously offend if you use a less formal greeting

Exercise 3

You are a tourist visiting Reykjaviacutek for the first time You are looking to find Doacutemkirkja the cathedral without much success it seems so you decide to ask Fill in the gaps in the following dialogue using the information provided above

YOU (1 Good day) ________ MAN Goacuteethan dag YOU (2 Excuse me can you tell me where the Doacutemkirkja is) ________ ________ MAN Doacutemkirkjan jaacute huacuten er heacuterna reacutett vieth Hoacutetel Borg YOU (3 Thank you very much) ________ MAN THORNaeth var ekkert Ert thornuacute uacutetlendingur YOU (4 Yes I am English) ____ ________


MAN THORNuacute talar goacuteetha iacuteslensku YOU (5 Thank you Goodbye) ________ ________ MAN Bless

Language points

Questions and answers

In Icelandic the word order of a simple sentence is the same as in English subjectmdashverbmdashobject To formulate a question is even easier you put the (first) verb before the subject verbmdashsubjectmdashobject To answer the question the subject goes back to its regular position at the beginning of the sentence

Talar thornuacute iacuteslensku Jaacute eacuteg tala iacuteslensku Do you speak Icelandic Yes I speak Icelandic Ert thornuacute uacutetlendingur Jaacute eacuteg er fraacute Bretlandi Are you from abroad Yes I am from Britain

This rule remains in effect when a question is formed as often happens with the help of interrogatives such as hvar

Hvar stoppar ruacutetan Huacuten stoppar reacutett fyrir utan Where does the coach stop It stops right outside Hvaeth heitir thornuacute Eacuteg heitihellip What is your name My name ishellip

In English interrogatives are usually words beginning with wh- In Icelandic they usually start with hv- Go back to Dialogues 1 and 2 and collect all hv- words Do you remember what they mean

They were hvar where hvaethan wherehellipfromhvaeth what hver who

Athugieth

It is common for the personal pronoun thornuacute to become part of the verb in questions This often leads to a change or loss of the initial thorn

ert thornuacute uacutetlendingurrarrertu uacutetlendingur (thorn is dropped) hvaeth segir thornuacute rarrhvaeth segirethu (thorn changes to voiced eth)

Should a part of speech be moved to the beginning of a regular sentence for special emphasis for instance the subject will also lsquohidersquo behind the (first) verb as in Magnuacutes Giacuteslason heiti eacuteg instead of eacuteg heiti Magnuacutes Giacuteslason


THORNetta erthornaeth er

In Dialogue 2 Magnuacutes asked hver er thornetta lsquowho is thisrsquo thornetta is a demonstrative pronoun used about something or someone in close visual range the equivalent of English lsquothisrsquo

Hvaeth er thornetta THORNetta er kirkja What is this This is a church

As we saw earlier the personal pronoun thornaeth means lsquoitrsquo THORNaeth er gaman It is fungreat

It is also often used in combination with singular er lsquoisrsquo (or plural eru lsquoarersquo) to mean lsquothere isrsquo (or lsquothere arersquo)

THORNaeth er ruacuteta sem fer til Reykjaviacutekur There is a coach which goes to Reykjaviacutek

Exercise 4 Hvaeth er thornetta THORNetta erhellip

Do you remember what the Icelandic words are for the following Ask and answer for each in Icelandic what it is

Daeligmi (lsquoexamplersquo) blaethgtHvaeth er thornetta THORNetta er blaeth 1 coach 6 man 2 stone 7 rose 3 table 8 woman4 chair 9 shop 5 church 10 car

Exercise 5

Now determine the gender of each of these nouns and add the correct form of the definite article

Vera and the present continuous

In Dialogue 1 Joyce said eacuteg er aeth laeligra iacuteslensku This construction translates into the present continuous in English lsquoI am learning Icelandicrsquo In Icelandic as in English this construction is used to indicate a temporary action taking place at the moment of speaking It is also a relatively easy as well as a very useful way to start using verbs and forming simple sentences in Icelandic All one needs to do is choose the appropriate form of the verb vera lsquoto bersquo followed by aeth and the infinitive form of the verb expressing the action Here are some examples

Subject [vera] Verb Eacuteg er aeth lesa mdash I am reading


aeth skrifa hellipwriting THORNuacute ert aeth fara mdash You are going aeth boretha mdash hellipeating Hann er aeth drekka mdash He is drinking aeth laeligra mdash helliplearning Huacuten er aeth tala mdash She is talkingspeaking aeth vinna mdash hellipworking

Exercise 6 Hvaeth er foacutelkieth aeth gera lsquoWhat are the people doingrsquo

Look at the pictures below and on p 24 Can you say in Icelandic what these people are doing using the verbs listed above to help you


Exercise 7

Now could you say in Icelandic what you are doing on an ordinary day at the following times

10 am Eacuteg er aeth _____1 pm ____________5 pm ____________9 pm ____________

Dialogue 3

Siacutemtal

Richard Johnson is in Reykjaviacutek to meet Gunnar Guethmundsson a business associate He has just arrived at his hotel and phones Gunnar to make an appointment What is the name of the company that Gunnar works for Where is Richard from

X Eimskip goacuteethan dag RICHARD Goacuteethan daginn Richard Johnson heiti eacuteg Er Gunnar Guethmundsson vieth X Fyrirgefethu en hvaeth segirethu aeth thornuacute heitir R Richard Johnson rmdashimdashcmdashhmdashamdashrmdashd jmdashomdashhmdashnmdashsmdashomdashn X Richard Johnson RICHARD Jaacute eacuteg er soumllumaethur hjaacute Shell-fyrirtaeligkinu iacute Aberdeen iacute Skotlandi og eacuteg er heacuter

iacute Reykjaviacutek til aeth hitta Gunnar X Eacuteg skal athuga thornaeth augnablik Allt iacute lagi heacuterna er Gunnar gjoumlrethu svo vel RICHARDTHORNakka thorneacuter fyrir Komdu saeligll Gunnar GUNNAR Komdu saeligll Richard og velkominn til Iacuteslands

A telephone conversation

X Eimskip good afternoon RICHARD Good afternoon Richard Johnson is my name Is Gunnar Guethmundsson

there X Excuse me what did you say your name was R Richard Johnson rmdashimdashcmdashhmdashamdashrmdashd jmdashomdashhmdashnmdashsmdashomdashn X Richard Johnson RICHARD Yes I am a salesperson with the Shell company in Aberdeen in Scotland and

I am here in Reykjaviacutek to meet Gunnar X I will check one moment please All right here is Gunnar go ahead RICHARD Thank you Hello Gunnar GUNNAR Hello Richard and welcome to Iceland

Vocabulary notes


erhellipvieth fyrirtaeligki n

ishellipthere firm company

augnablik n moment (here lsquoone moment pleasersquo)

skal shall (from skulu) gjoumlrethu svo vel here you are go ahead

Hvaeth heitir thornuacute

The Icelandic naming system is different from that in many other countries Most Icelanders have one or two first names (skiacuternarnafn) and a patronymic (foumlethurnafn) ie the fatherrsquos (or motherrsquos) first name in the possessive case form (see Lesson 4) followed by -son or -doacutettir Joacuten Einarsson (ie Joacuten son of Einar) Vigdiacutes Finnbogadoacutettir (Vigdiacutes daughter of Finnbogi) Only a few Icelanders have a family name (aeligttarnafn) Joacutehann Briem Einar HKvaran Women do not change their name after marriage Thus in an Icelandic family consisting of a mother a father a son and a daughter each family member will have a different last name

It is also common for Icelanders to be addressed by relatives and friends with a pet name (gaeliglunafn) Most pet names are traditional abbreviations of the first name ending in -i for men and -a for women

Paacutell mdashPalli Kolbruacuten mdashKolla Sigurethur mdashSiggi Sigriacuteethur mdashSigga Guethmundur mdashGummi Mundi Aacutesdiacutes mdashAacutesa Diacutesa

Most male names in Icelandic have endings that are identical to those of masculine nouns -i -ur -ll -nn Female names can be harder to recognize Some common endings for female names are -ruacuten -diacutes -bjoumlrg -gerethur -hildur -riacuteethur -unn and -iacuten (not to be confused with the masculine ending -inn)

Earlier we saw that the verb used to indicate someonersquos name is heita lsquoto be calledrsquo Its forms in the singular are as follows

Eacuteg heiti THORNuacute heitirHuacutenhann heitir

To ask for someonersquos full name one uses

Hvaeth heitir thornuacute fullu nafni

To find out a last name (ie patronymic) one asks Hvers sondoacutettir (ert thornuacute) Whose sondaughter (are you)

Exercise 8

The illustration on p 27 contains a fragment from an Icelandic telephone book Since Icelanders do not have surnames proper listings are on a first name basis (as is everything else even in the most formal of circumstances) Can you distinguish the male from the female names Do any of these people have a family name


Reading 1

Fjoumllskylda fraacute Iacuteslandi

Einar Gunnarsson er Iacuteslendingur Pabbi hans heitir Gunnar og thorness vegna er Einar Gunnarsson Afi heitir Joacutenas og thorness vegna er Gunnar Joacutenasson Aacute Iacuteslandi er thornaeth svona

Einar er eiginmaethur thornaeth thornyacuteethir aeth hann er giftur Eiginkonan heitir Birna Huacuten er kona Einars en huacuten heitir samt ekki Birna Gunnarsson af thornviacute aeth huacuten er ekki Gunnarsson Huacuten er Oacutelafsdoacutettir af thornviacute aeth pabbi hennar heitir Oacutelafur Afi heitir Hrafn og thorness vegna er Oacutelafur Hrafnsson

Birna og Einar eiga barn Barnieth heitir THORNoacutera Hvaeth er barnieth aeth gera THORNaeth er aeth leika seacuter Hvar er Einar Hann er ekki heima Hann er aeth vinna Hann er soumllumaethur Og hvaeth er Birna aeth gera Huacuten er aeth vinna heima Huacuten er aeth lesa leikrit Huacuten er leikkona og huacuten er aeth lesa undir hlutverk

Vocabulary notes


fjoumllskylda f family thorness vegna therefore svona thus so like that eigin-maethur m

husband wife (eigin- is very often left out the words

eigin-kona f maethur and kona are commonly used to mean not only lsquomanrsquo and lsquowomanrsquo but also lsquohusbandrsquo and lsquowifersquo)

thornyacuteethir means (from thornyacuteetha) eins og like af thornviacute aeth because hennar her leika seacuter play heima at home lesa undir prepare study

Exercise 9 Spurningar (lsquoquestionsrsquo)

Can you answer the following questions in Icelandic


1 Hvaeth heitir Gunnthornoacutera fullu nafni

2 Hvers son er Hrafn broacuteethir Birnu

3 Hvers doacutettir er THORNoacutera

4 Hvaeth heitir thornuacute fullu nafni

5 Hvers sondoacutettir ertu


2 Hvaethan ert thornuacute

Where are you from In this lesson you will learn about

bull asking for information and giving information about yourselfbull countries nationalities and colours bull singular nominative adjectivesgender bull professions bull negation jaacutejuacute bull verbs in singular present

Dialogue 1

Spjall

Elva Stefansson is looking around for an empty seat to eat her breakfast in the crowded dining room of her Reykjaviacutek hotel She notices an empty seat at a table with one female occupant Where does Elva live And Guethruacuten Why does Elva have an Icelandic name

ELVA Afsakieth talarethu iacuteslensku GUethRUacuteN Jaacute eacuteg er iacuteslensk ELVA Er thornetta laust saeligti GUethRUacuteN Jaacute gjoumlrethu svo vel og faacuteethu thorneacuter saeligti ELVA THORNakka thorneacuter fyrir Elva Stefansson heiti eacuteg GUethRUacuteN Elva Stefansson Er thornaeth ekki iacuteslenskt nafn ELVA Juacute eacuteg er Vestur-Iacuteslensk Eacuteg er fraacute Kanada GUethRUacuteN Hvaethan iacute Kanada ELVA Gimli Manitoba GUethRUacuteN Nuacute hvaeth segirethu eacuteg aacute fraeligndfoacutelk iacute Manitoba Og thornaeth er thorness vegna sem thornuacute

talar iacuteslensku ELVA Jaacute svoliacutetieth Pabbi minn er iacuteslenskur Hvaethan ert thornuacute GUethRUacuteN Eacuteg heiti Guethruacuten Aacutesmundsdoacutettir og eacuteg er fraacute Huacutesaviacutek

A chat

ELVA Pardon me do you speak Icelandic GUethRUacuteN Yes I am Icelandic

ELVA Is this seat taken GUethRUacuteN No please go ahead and have a seat ELVA Thank you Elva Stefansson is my name GUethRUacuteN Elva Stefansson Is that not an Icelandic name ELVA Yes I am Western Icelandic I am from Canada GUethRUacuteN Where from in Canada ELVA Gimli Manitoba GUethRUacuteN Really I have relatives in Manitoba And that is why you speak Icelandic ELVA Yes a little bit My dad is Icelandic Where are you from GUethRUacuteN My name is Guethruacuten Aacutesmundsdoacutettir and I am from Huacutesaviacutek

Vocabulary notes laus adj free (ie lsquonot takenrsquo) faacuteethu thorneacuter saeligti have a seat Vestur-Iacuteslenskur adj

Western Icelandic (This term is commonly used by people in Iceland to denote Icelanders who emigrated to North America (mostly around the turn of the century) and their descendants)

nuacute hvaeth segirethu

really (lit lsquowhat do you sayrsquo)

fraeligndfoacutelk n relatives (Note that although the noun foacutelk implies a plural it only ever occurs in the singular)

Language points

Countries and nationalities

Exercise 1

The picture overleaf contains a number of clippings from Icelandic newspapers and brochures with the names of different countries andor nationalities Can you pick them out and match them with their English names listed below Donrsquot worry about forms or endings right now that will all fall into place later

1 Thailand 13 FranceFrench 2 South Afrika 14 The United States3 FaroeseFaroe Islanders 15 Germany 4 Russians 16 England 5 Switzerland 17 Mexico 6 RomaniaRomanian 18 Canada 7 Holland 19 Denmark 8 Australia 20 Belgium 9 Norway 21 Israel 10 Malaysia 22 Sweden 11 Scotland 23 Austria 12 Italy 24 Finland

Hvaethan ert thornuacute 27

The names of many countries end in the neuter noun -land in Icelandic as for instance in Indland (India) Ruacutessland (Russia) and Ungverjaland (Hungary) The names of inhabitants usually consist of the first part of the countryrsquos name followed by

1 -i SviacutethornjoacuteethmdashSviacutei IacutetaliacuteamdashIacutetali IacuterlandmdashIacuteri JapanmdashJapani 2 -lendingur (lsquolanderrsquo) IacuteslandmdashIacuteslendingur TaeliglandmdashTaeliglendingur 3 -verji PoacutellandmdashPoacutelverji KiacutenamdashKiacutenverji SpaacutennmdashSpaacutenverji 4 -maethur (or -buacutei) KanadamdashKanadamaethur BandariacutekinmdashBandariacutekjamaethur


Some national nouns are slightly irregular for instance thornyacuteskalandmdashthornjoacuteethverji NoregurmdashNorethmaethur Can you tell the gender of these nouns Yes they are all masculine

Nationality can also be expressed using an adjective instead of a noun In Dialogue 1 for instance Guethruacuten said that she was iacuteslensk lsquoIcelandicrsquo rather than Iacuteslendingur an Icelander

Exercise 2

In the left-hand column is a list of several countries Can you pair them with the matching adjectives in the right-hand column You may recognize some from the previous exercise

Sviacutethornjoacuteeth Spaacutenn Indland Skotland Iacutetaliacutea Frakkland Aacutestraliacutea THORNyacuteskaland Grikkland Kiacutena Kanada Ruacutessland Japan Bandariacutekin japanskur thornyacuteskur griacuteskur bandariacuteskur ruacutessneskur franskur skoskur kiacutenverskur saelignskur aacutestralskur iacutetalskur kanadiacuteskur spaelignskur indverskur

Note that instead of the adjective bandariacuteskur Icelanders sometimes use ameriacuteskur Did you notice that the nouns denoting countries and nationalities are all capitalized but the adjectives are not


Dialogue 2

Spjall 2

Elva and Guethruacuten continue their breakfast conversation What is Elva doing in Reykjaviacutek Why is Guethruacuten in Reykjaviacutek

ELVA Hvaeth ertu aeth gera heacuterna GUethRUacuteN Eacuteg er heacuter aacute toumllvunaacutemskeiethi Eacuteg er kennari ELVA Hvaeth kennir thornuacute GUethRUacuteN Eacuteg kenni toumllvufraeligethi og ensku En thornuacute hvaeth gerir thornuacute ELVA Eacuteg er blaethamaethur Eacuteg er aeth skrifa grein um menningarliacutef iacute Reykjaviacutek GUethRUacuteN Og hvernig liacutekar thorneacuter heacuterna ELVA Mjoumlg vel Reykjaviacutek er aldeilis skemmtileg og liacutefleg borg GUethRUacuteN Jaacute huacuten er thornaeth Huacuten er naacutettuacuterulega ekki stoacuterborg en thornaeth er alltaf mikieth um aeth

vera her ELVA Ferethu oft til Reykjaviacutekur GUethRUacuteN Jaacute eacuteg fer oft aacute naacutemskeieth og eacuteg aacute liacuteka fraeligndfoacutelk her En heyrethu eacuteg vereth aeth

koma meacuter af staeth Kannski sjaacuteumst vieth seinna ELVA Jaacute eacuteg vereth heacuterna iacute kvoumlld Vertu blessueth Guethruacuten og takk fyrir spjallieth GUethRUacuteN Soumlmuleiethis takk Elva vertu blessueth

A chat 2

ELVA What are you doing here GUethRUacuteN I am here on a computer course I am a teacher ELVA What do you teach GUethRUacuteN I teach computer science and English And you ELVA I am a journalist I am writing an article on the cultural life in Reykjaviacutek GUethRUacuteN And how do you like it here ELVA Very much Reykjaviacutek is really an enjoyable and lively city GUethRUacuteN Yes so it is It is of course not a metropolis but there is always a lot going on

here ELVA Do you often go to Reykjaviacutek GUethRUacuteN Yes I often go on a course and I also have relatives here But listen I must be

going Perhaps wersquoll see each other later ELVA Yes Irsquoll be here tonight Goodbye Guethruacuten and thanks for the chat GUethRUacuteN Thanks to you too Elva goodbye


Vocabulary notes n computer course (from toumllva f lsquocomputerrsquo and naacutemskeieth n lsquocoursersquo)

ensku English (from enska f) cultural life (from menning f lsquoculturersquo and liacutef n lsquolifersquo)

menningarliacutef n

kennir teach (from

toumllvunaacutemskeieth

kenna vb) hvernig liacutekar thorneacuter

how do you like it

huacuten er thornaeth so it is (lit lsquoshe is thatrsquo) vereth aeth have to must (from veretha aeth) mikieth much from mikill adj koma meacuter af staeth be going thornaeth er mikieth um aeth vera therersquos a lot going on iacute kvoumlld this evening tonight

Adjectives

Unlike nouns adjectives do not have a set gender but reflect instead through different forms the gender of the noun or subject they qualify The form you find in dictionaries or glossaries and in the above exercise is the masculine A slash indicates which part of the adjective is the masculine ending iacuteslenskur The following are the different endings for adjectives

Masculine Feminine Neuter

Athugieth (Note)

1 In a few cases the masculine final -r or -ur is actually not an ending but part of the stem of the adjective itself For these adjectives the masculine and feminine forms are the same while neuter gets its regular -t ending stoacuter lsquobigrsquo (stoacuter f and stoacutert n) The same is the case for a group of adjectives of which the stem ends in -s or consonant plus -n lausmdashlausmdashlaust

2 In the feminine form of adjectives which have a as a stem vowel the a will change into ouml (or in unstressed positions into u) svarturmdashsvoumlrt and gamallmdashgoumlmul except in cases where the syllable with the -a is followed by a second syllable with a different vowel as for instance fallegurmdashfalleg This phenomenon known as the U-shift will be treated in more detail in Lesson 3

3 The -t ending for the neuter form of adjectives sometimes causes preceding letters to change

bull if the -t ending is preceded by eth this eth will change into -t goacuteethurmdashgott


bull if the ending is preceded by consonant plus -d or consonant plus -t respectively there will be no ending at all and final d will change into t svarturmdashsvart vondurmdashvont

bull if the ending is preceded by a vowel the -t ending is doubled blaacutermdashblaacutett

Here are some examples Masculine Feminine Neuter iacuteslenskur iacuteslensk iacuteslenskt Icelandicfranskur froumlnsk franskt French gamall goumlmul gamalt old nyacuter nyacute nyacutett new

Maethurinn er iacuteslenskur Guethruacuten er iacuteslensk Barnieth er iacuteslensktRenault er franskur biacutell Pariacutes er froumlnsk borg Franskt braueth Stoacutellinn er gamall Toumllvan er goumlmul Borethieth er gamaltTHORNetta er nyacuter lampi THORNetta er nyacute kirkja THORNetta er nyacutett blaeth

Note that the neuter forms of the common adjectives mikill lsquomuchrsquo and liacutetill lsquolittlersquo are mikieth and liacutetieth

There are a few adjectives in Icelandic that always stay the same as adjectives do in English These are known as indeclinable adjectives The glossary and vocabulary notes will alert you to them

Exercise 3

Say what countries the following cities belong to using adjectives and keeping in mind that the Icelandic word for city borg is feminine Note that some cities may be called slightly differently in Icelandic

Daeligmi (lsquoexamplersquo) Toacutekyoacute er japoumlnsk borg

1 Roacutem 5 Delhi 2 Stokkhoacutelmur 6 Amsterdam 3 Berliacuten 7 Dublin (Dyflinni) 4 Moskva 8 London (Lunduacutenir)

Exercise 4

Go back to Dialogues 1 and 2 and pick out all the adjectives Can you tell which gender form they are in and why

Colours

There are of course many other adjectives than those indicating nationality Colours are among the frequently used adjectives Here is a list of colours in Icelandic


hviacutetur white gulur yellowappelsiacutenugulur orangebleikur pink rauethur red blaacuter blue fjoacutelublaacuter purplegraelignn green bruacutenn browngraacuter grey svartur black

Exercise 5

Below is a list of items Add the appropriate form of the definite article to each and then match it with its colour in a sentence also of course using the appropriate gender form The meaning of each item is given in brackets and where this is not obvious from its form the gender as well Use the list of colours above and use each colour only once

Daeligmi snjoacuter m lsquosnowrsquomdashhviacuteturrarrSnjoacuterinn er hviacutetur 1 appelsiacutena (orange) 7 kaffi n (coffee)2 banani (banana) 8 viacutenber n (grape)3 gras n (grass) 9 svanur (swan) 4 himinn (sky) 10 fiacutell (elephant) 5 roacutes f (rose) 11 sviacuten n (pig) 6 hundur (dog)

Now try this for yourself what objects in your direct environment can you name in Icelandic Do you know their gender What colours are they Solidify your knowledge of Icelandic words and their grammatical features by trying to make a few a day part of your daily routine

Dialogue 3

Hvernig liacutekar thorneacuter heacuterna

The following dialogue takes place at a reception hosted for international students enrolled in an intensive summer course in Icelandic What does Hiromi do Does she like Iceland Where does Luigi work Why is Aleko working in Iceland

ALEKO Komdu saeligll Aleko heiti eacuteg LUIGI Saeligll eacuteg heiti Luigi Eacuteg er Iacutetali Hvaethan ert thornuacute ALEKO Eacuteg er fraacute Grikklandi THORNetta er Hiromi huacuten er fraacute Japan LUIGI Saeligl og blessueth Hvernig liacutekar thorneacuter heacuterna


HIROMI Aacutegaeligtlega Veethrieth er buacuteieth aeth vera svoliacutetieth kalt og leiethin-legt aeth viacutesu og maturinn og liacutefsvenjur eru allt oumlethruviacutesi en heima iacute Japan en landieth er mjoumlg fallegt og foacutelkieth alveg indaeliglt

LUIGI Maturinn er vissulega oacutevenjulegur eacuteg thornoli hann ekki Og thornaeth gengur illa aeth kynnast Iacuteslendingum

ALEKO Nuacute er eacuteg ekki sammaacutela Luigi THORNaeth tekur bara tiacutema Eacuteg er buacuteinn aeth vera heacuter allt sumarieth og meacuter liacutekar mjoumlg vel Af hverju ert thornuacute annars aeth laeligra iacuteslensku Hiromi

HIROMI Eacuteg er soumllustjoacuteri hjaacute fyrirtaeligki sem aacute mikil viethskipti vieth Iacutesland LUIGI Eacuteg er sendiraacuteethsritaŕi hjaacute iacutetalska sendiraacuteethinu aacute Iacuteslandi Og thornuacute hvaeth gerir thornuacute

Aleko ALEKO Eacuteg er haacuteskoacutelanemi Eacuteg er aeth laeligra maacutelviacutesindi og eacuteg hef aacutehuga aacute iacuteslensku En thornaeth

er mjoumlg dyacutert aeth buacutea aacute Iacuteslandi thornannig aeth eacuteg vinn iacute boacutekabuacuteeth heacuter iacute Reykjaviacutek HIROMI Er thornaeth gott starf ALEKO Jaacute mjoumlg gott Eacuteg er afgreiethslumaethur og hitti margt foacutelk og starfsfoacutelkieth er liacuteka

skemmtilegt En heyrethu thornarna kemur maturinn Faacuteum okkur aeth boretha

How are you liking it here

ALEKO Hello Aleko is my name LUIGI Hi my name is Luigi I am Italian Where are you from ALEKO Irsquom from Greece This is Hiromi she is from Japan LUIGI Hello How are you liking it here HIROMI Fine The weather has been a little cold and unpleasant to be sure and the

food and customs are completely different from those at home in Japan but the country is very beautiful and the people quite friendly

LUIGI The food is certainly unusual I canrsquot stand it And it is difficult to get to know Icelanders

ALEKO I donrsquot agree Luigi It just takes time I have been here all summer and I like it very much Why are you learning Icelandic by the way Hiromi

HIROMI I am a marketing director with a company that does business with Iceland LUIGI I am an attacheacute with the Italian Embassy in Iceland And you what do you do

Aleko ALEKO I am a university student I am studying linguistics and I am interested in

Icelandic But it is very expensive to live in Iceland so I work in a bookshop here in Reykjaviacutek

HIROMI Is it a good job ALEKO Yes very good I am a shop assistant and meet many people and the staff are

also a lot of fun But listen here comes the food Letrsquos get ourselves something to eat

Vocabulary notes buacuteinn adj (buacutein f buacuteieth n)

finished (The expression vera buacuteinn aeth lit lsquoto be finished doing somethingrsquo is often translated into English as a perfect tense thornaeth er buacuteieth aeth vera kalt lsquoit has been coldrsquo See also Lesson 14)

veethrieth weather (from veethur n) aeth viacutesu to be sure actually


liacutefsvenjur pl customs (from liacutef n lsquolifersquo and venja f lsquocustomrsquo lsquohabitrsquo) allt n all (here lsquocompletelyrsquo lsquototallyrsquo from allur) thornaeth gengur illavel

lit lsquoit goes badlywellrsquo from ganga vb lsquowalkrsquo lsquogorsquo

sammaacutela indecl adj

in agreement (eacuteg er (ekki) sammaacutela lsquoI (donrsquot) agreersquo)

meacuter liacutekar vel heacuter impers

I like it here

af hverju why annars by the way (often used when changing the topic of conversation) viethskipti npl business sendiraacuteethsritaŕi attacheacute (from sendiraacuteeth n lsquoembassyrsquo and ritari m lsquosecretaryrsquo) haacuteskoacutelanemi university student (from haacuteskoacuteli lsquouniversityrsquo and nemi lsquostudentrsquo (also

nemandi)) aacutehuga interest (from aacutehugi m) hafa aacutehuga aacute be interested in thornannig aeth so that boacutekabuacuteeth bookshop (from boacutek f lsquobookrsquo and buacuteeth f lsquoshoprsquo) starfsfoacutelk n staff employees (from starf n lsquojobrsquo lsquoemploymentrsquo) margur adj many a lot faacuteum okkur aeth boretha

lit lsquoletrsquos get us to eatrsquo ie lsquoletrsquos get ourselves something to eatrsquo

Exercise 6

Pick out the adjectives in the above dialogue Can you tell which gender forms they are in and why Which are the ones without an ending in the masculine

Language points

Occupations

In the preceding dialogues people spoke about what they do for a living Do you remember the occupations that were mentioned

They were kennari blaethamaethur soumllustjoacuteri (sendiraacuteeths)ritari and haacuteskoacutelanemi As with the names of nationalities there are certain patterns to the names of

occupations in Icelandic For instance the following suffixes are very common in occupational nouns

-ri added on to verbs indicating the job activity for instance leika lsquoplayrsquo lsquoactrsquomdashleikari lsquoplayerrsquo lsquoactorrsquo maacutela lsquopaintrsquomdashmaacutelari lsquopainterrsquo

-smiethur from the verb smiacuteetha lsquomakersquo lsquobuildrsquo lsquoconstructrsquo as in treacutesmiethurmdashlsquocarpenterrsquo -fraeligethingur

from fraeligethi npl lsquostudiesrsquo referring to an academic field of study loumlgfraeligethingur lsquolawyerrsquo (from loumlgfraeligethi lsquolawrsquo) hjuacutekrunarfraeligethingur lsquoregistered nursersquo (from hjuacutekrunarfraeligethi lsquonursingrsquo)

-stjoacuteri referring to a position of management direction authority leikstjoacuteri lsquodirectorrsquo


loumlgreglustjoacuteri lsquopolice officerrsquo (leigu- voumlra-) biacutelstjoacuteri (lsquotaxi-rsquo lsquolorryrsquo-) lsquodriverrsquo lsquochauffeurrsquo

-virki lsquotechnicianrsquo or lsquomechanicrsquo rafvirki lsquoelectricianrsquo -fulltruacutei representative -sali sales person

The suffixes -maethur lsquopersonrsquo and -foacutelk lsquopeoplersquo also commonly indicate an employee or employees respectively in a particular area of work as for instance in

afgreiethslumaethur shop assistant (on the floor or behind the counter)starfsfoacutelk employees staff sjoacutemaethur fisherman matreiethslumaethur cook (also kokkur)

Did you remember to note the gender of all the above nouns Finally here are a few common occupations not included in the above

laeligknir (tann- dyra-) m doctor (dentist vet) skaacuteld (toacuten- leik-) n poet (composer playwright) rithoumlfundur m writer novelist forseti m president (forsaeligtis-)raacuteethherra m (Prime) Minister thornjoacutenn m thornjoacutenustustuacutelka f waiter waitress (from thornjoacutenusta f lsquoservicersquo)

Exercise 7

Can you guess what the following occupations might be

flugstjoacuteri skipstjoacuteri fiskifraeligethingur boacutekari biacutelasali laeligknaritari piacuteanoacuteleikari ruacutetubiacutelstjoacuteri

Negation

In Icelandic the word ekki lsquonotrsquo is used to make a sentence negative It is usually combined with initial nei lsquonorsquo in negative answers

Ertu kennari Nei eacuteg er ekki kennari

In most cases ekki comes directly after the first verb in affirmative sentences In questions where subject and verb change places ekki follows the subject

Talar huacuten ekki iacuteslensku Nei huacuten talar ekki iacuteslensku

We have already seen in previous dialogues that the antonym to nei is jaacute lsquoyesrsquo However when replying positively to a negative question Icelandic uses juacute instead of jaacute Compare the following examples

Talar huacuten ensku Jaacute huacuten talar ensku

Talar huacuten ekki iacuteslensku Juacute huacuten talar iacuteslensku


Exercise 8

Look at the pairing of the following people and occupations and construct positive or negative sentences as appropriate taking into account gender In the cases where the answer is negative can you give the correct answer instead using the correct option from the column

Daeligmi Hrafn Gunnlaugsson

mdashleikstjoacuteri

gtHrafn Gunnlaugsson er leikstjoacuteri

Vilhjalmur Stefansson mdashbiacutelstjoacuteri gtVilhjalmur Stefansson er ekki biacutelstjoacuteri Hann er landkoumlnnuethur (lsquoexplorerrsquo)

Bjoumlrk soumlngkona Oacutelafur Ragnar Griacutemsson hjuacutekrunarkonaHalldoacuter Laxness forseti Sigmund Freud saacutelfraeligethingur Leifur Eiriacuteksson althorningismaethurFlorence Nightingale maacutelari Nelson Mandela rithoumlfundur Edvard Munch toumllvufraeligethingurGeacuterard Deacutepardieu leikari Bill Gates landkoumlnnuethur

Exercise 9

Go back to the previous exercise and write down the nationality of each of the individuals listed using adjectives and taking into account gender Some might be a little difficult but just review the patterns outlined above and give it a trymdashafter all creativity is an important part of language learning

Verbs

In Dialogue 3 you encountered the following verbs in their singular present forms

liacutekar thornoli gengur tekur gerir hef vinn kemur

These singular forms are in many cases different from the infinitive forms of the verbs which you learned to use in forming the present continuous The infinitive form of virtually all Icelandic verbs ends in -a To put verbs in their singular forms this -a is taken off and endings reflecting the subject ie the lsquoIrsquo or lsquoyoursquo or lsquosheitrsquo forms are added to the remaining stem to create the socalled simple present eacuteg tala lsquoI speakrsquo

In Icelandic verbs can be roughly divided into three groups depending on which endings they receive in the singular present The first group which could be called the -a group consists of verbs of which the first-person lsquoIrsquo ending is -a (just like the infinitive form) and the second and third person lsquoyoursquo and lsquosheitrsquo endings are -ar


tal-a boreth-a skrif-aeacuteg tal-a boreth-a skrif-athornuacute tal-ar boreth-ar skrif-arhuacuten tal-ar boreth-ar skrif-ar

The second group or -i group closely resembles the first one except where the first group has -a in its endings this group has -i

THORNol-a laeligr-a hitt-aeacuteg thornol-i laeligr-i hitt-i thornuacute thornol-ir laeligr-ir hitt-irhann thornol-ir laeligr-ir hitt-ir

Finally the -ur group is slightly more diverse For now it is enough to remember that the first person has no ending at all while the other two get -ur

vinn-a vereth-a tak-aeacuteg vinn- vereth- tek- thornuacute vinn-ur vereth-ur tek-urthornaeth vinn-ur vereth-ur tek-ur

Quite a few verbs belonging to the -ur group like taka above are subject to a vowel change as are for instance other verbs found in Dialogue 3 kemur from koma gengur from ganga and hef from hafa We will come back to this in Lesson 7

Some verbs in Icelandic have infinitive forms ending in -ja rather than just -a This -j does not occur in the singular present forms demonstrated above Thus a verb like syngja lsquosingrsquo becomes syng in the first person and syngur for the other two

Since verbs contain no indication of which group they belong to you have to learn as you go Therefore whenever you encounter a new verb find out what group it belongs to and memorize this To help you along the vocabulary notes will list all new verbs with their lsquoIrsquo forms This will also alert you to any vowel changes that may occur For instance geramdashgeri tells you that gera is an -i verb and that the second and third persons therefore are gerir while laacutetamdashlaeligt informs you that a vowel change occurs here and that the other two singular forms of this verb are laeligtur

Any new irregular verbs will be listed in all forms necessary to work with them

fara mdash (eacuteg) fer mdash (thornuacute) fereth mdash (huacuten) ferlesa mdash les mdash lest mdash les


Exercise 10

Go back to Exercises 6 and 7 in Lesson 1 and rewrite your answers using the simple present form of the verbs represented there

Exercise 11

How would you say the following in Icelandic Use previous dialogues to help you trying not to translate too literally but rather use the vocabulary and constructions you have learned so far

My name is Mark I am Canadian I am a novelist from Calgary I work at home I speak English and I am learning Icelandic Calgary is a pleasant city There is always much going on and the people are friendly

Exercise 12

Pair the professions listed below with a verb from the column on the right Use each verb only once Can you construct sentences adding the correct form of the definite article to the nouns

Daeligmi soumlngkonamdashsyngja soumlngkonan syngur skaacuteld kenna kokkur fiska (-ar)kennari skrifa nemandi spila aacute piacuteanoacute (-ar)ritari elda boretha soumllumaethur laeligra sjoacutemaethur veacutelrita (-ar)piacuteanoacuteleikari selja (-ur)

Exercise 13

Aacutesdiacutes is giving a description of herself but some of the verbs have been left out Fill in the gaps using the verbs listed and putting them in their appropriate forms You can use each verb as often as you need

vinna elda kenna heita spila vera lesa

Eacuteg _________ Aacutesdiacutes Eacuteg _________ iacuteslensk Eacuteg _________ doumlkkhaeligreth og haacutevaxin Eacuteg_________ kennari Eacuteg _________ iacute grunnskoacutela aacute Akureyri Eacuteg _________ ensku og froumlnsku Maethurinn minn _________ Joacutenas Hann _________ iacute boacutekabuacuteeth THORNegar eacuteg _________ iacute friacutei _________ eacuteg aacute piano eetha eacuteg _________ meethan Joacutenas _________ Hann _________ svo goacuteethur kokkur


Vocabulary notes haacutevaxinn adj tall (vs laacutegvaxinn grunnskoacuteli m elementary school lsquoshortrsquo (in build) meethan conj while doumlkkhaeligrethur dark-haired (vs svo such ljoacuteshaeligrethur lsquofair- hairedrsquo)

Exercise 14

Imagine you are at a reception Introduce the following people in Icelandic

1 An Australian man called Tom tall and fair-haired married and working as a baker in Brisbane

2 A Scottish woman from Glasgow called Helen university student studying (=learning) law married husband is Irish

3 And now itrsquos your turn Describe yourself as well as you can using the vocabulary and constructions introduced in this chapter Of course there is no set answer to this exercise it depends on you


3 Hvert foumlrum vieth Where are we going

In this lesson you will learn about

bull directions adverbs of place bull plural personal pronouns bull verbs in the plural present bull U-shift bull cardinal numbersgender bull plural nouns articles and adjectives bull money measurements asking for amountsbull time hours days months seasons years bull suggested action lsquoletrsquoshelliprsquo

Dialogue 1

Aacute Akureyri

THORNoacuter and Harpa are walking around Akureyri the capital of northern Iceland and the largest urban centre outside the larger Reykjaviacutek area Harpa is reading from a guidebook while THORNoacuter is looking around Do THORNoacuter and Harpa go inside Akureyrarkirkja Where did Matthiacuteas Jochumsson live What time of day is it

THORNOacuteR Hvert foumlrum vieth HARPA THORNangaeth niethur eftir THORNOacuteR Hvaeth er thornetta HARPA THORNetta er Akureyrarkirkja THORNOacuteR Mjoumlg aacuteberandi bygging Hvaeth er huacuten goumlmul HARPA Eacuteg veit thornaeth ekki en huacuten er opin Eigum vieth aeth fara inn og athuga thornaeth THORNOacuteR Nei kannski seinna Houmlldum aacutefram Veethrieth er svo fallegt og thornaeth er svo mikieth eftir

aeth sjaacute HARPA Heacuterna eru Sigurhaeligethir Matthiacuteas Jochumsson skaacuteld og prestur bjoacute heacuter Huacutesieth er

fraacute 1902 THORNOacuteR Er opieth HARPA Nei ekki ennthornaacute THORNaeth er opieth milli klukkan tvouml og fjoumlgur THORNOacuteR Foumlrum thornangaeth eftir haacutedegi

In Akureyri

THORNOacuteR Where are we going HARPA Down this way THORNOacuteR What is that HARPA Thatrsquos the church of Akureyri THORNOacuteR A very striking building How old is it HARPA I donrsquot know but it is open Should we go in and check THORNOacuteR No later perhaps Letrsquos continue The weather is so beautiful and there is so much

left to see HARPA Here is Sigurhaeligethir Matthiacuteas Jochumsson the poet and minister lived here

The house is from 1902 THORNOacuteR Is it open HARPA No not yet It is open between two and four orsquoclock THORNOacuteR Letrsquos go there in the afternoon

Vocabulary notes vita (veitmdashveistmdashveit)

know

opinn (opieth n) adj

(from opna (opna)) lsquoopenrsquo

eiga (aacutemdashaacutettmdashaacute) aeth have to should halda (held) aacutefram continue go on vera eftir be left Matthiacuteas Jochumsson

famous Icelandic minister and poet (1835ndash1920) who composed the lyrics for the Icelandic national anthem

bjoacute lived (past tense of buacutea) eftir haacutedegi in the afternoon

Language points

Directions adverbs of place

In Dialogue 1 you may have noticed the use of different words for lsquowherersquo lsquoherersquo and lsquotherersquo from the ones you learned hvert and thornangaeth instead of hvar heacuter(na) and thornarna Adverbs indicating location in Icelandic take different forms depending on whether a motion is implied and if so whether the motion is towards or away from the speaker English has this distinction as well (lsquohencersquo lsquohitherrsquo lsquowhencersquo lsquowhitherrsquo lsquothencersquo lsquothitherrsquo) although it is no longer common usage The following are the Icelandic forms

Hvar Where Hvaethan Where from Hvert Where toHeacuter(na) Here Heacuteethan From here Hingaeth (To) hereTHORNarna There THORNaethan From there THORNangaeth (To) there


In English the lsquofromrsquo or lsquotorsquo parts are usually left out as in lsquowhere is she goingrsquo In Icelandic however it would be ungrammatical to use hvar in this instance since the verb lsquogoingrsquo implies a motion away from the speaker Can you think of the proper way to phrase this question in Icelandic

It should be hvert er huacuten aeth fara You may have noticed the brackets around -na in heacuterna This is because heacuter and heacuterna are interchangeable while thornar and thornarna are not

bull thornarna is exclusively used as a demonstrative pronoun indicating something in visual range kirkjan er thornarna lsquothe church is there (ie within view)

bull thornar is used to refer to a location mentioned earlier as in for instance Akureyri THORNar er gott aeth vera THORNar is also found in the combination thornar sem which means lsquowherersquo but can only be used to connect two clauses huacutesieth thornar sem Matthiacuteas Jochumsson bjoacute lsquothe house where Matthiacuteas Jochumsson livedrsquo (not huacutesideth hvar Matthiacuteas Jochumsson bjoacute)

The adverbs upp and niethur are similar in usage to English lsquouprsquo and lsquodownrsquo in their reference to areas which are perceived to be lsquouprsquo or lsquodownrsquo in relation to the location from which one is speaking If the implication is not one of motion they have a slightly different form in Icelandic uppi and niethri

Eacuteg er aeth fara niethur iacute baelig Eacuteg er niethrrsquoiacute (niethri iacute) baeligI am going to the city centre I am in the city centre

Eacuteg fer upp aacute sjuacutekrahuacutes Eacuteg er upprsquoaacute (uppi aacute) sjuacutekrahuacutesiI am going up to the hospital I am (up) at the hospital

Where the reference is sufficiently clear upp and niethur are often used only in combination with the prepositions fraacute (static ie no motion) or eftir (implied motion)

Kaffihuacutesieth er (thornarna) upp fraacute (not uppi fraacute) The cafe is up there Hann er aeth fara upp eftir Hersquos going up there

Plural personal pronouns

In Lesson 1 you learned the singular personal pronouns in Icelandic Here are their plural counterparts

eacuteg gt vieth we thornuacute gt thornieth you hannhuacutenthornaeth gt thorneirthornaeligrthornau they mfn

Note how the third person plural in Icelandic unlike English lsquotheyrsquo continues to have separate gender forms In cases where reference is made to a combination of different genders Icelandic uses the neuter plural form thornau

THORNarna eru Joacuten (msg) og Stefaacuten (msg)mdashTHORNeir (mpl) eru fraacute Reykjaviacutek

Hvert foumlrum vieth 43

but THORNarna eru THORNoacuter (msg) og Harpa (fsg)mdashTHORNau (npl) eru aacute Akureyri

Verbs in the plural present

In the previous chapter you learned how to make present verb forms agree with the singular subject of a sentence (I you or someone or something else) These verb forms change when the subject is plural rather than singular (we you they) These are the plural forms for Icelandic verbs in the present tense

boreth-a laeligr-a vereth-a syng-j-avieth boreth-um laeligr-um vereth-um syngj-umthornieth boreth-ieth laeligr-ieth vereth-ieth syngj-ieth thorneir boreth-a laeligr-a vereth-a syngj-a

The process of making verb forms agree with their subject is called conjugation Whereas the three different verb groups have different endings in the singular the

plural endings are the same for all groups Note in the conjugation of syngja that the -j- which disappears in the singular returns in the plural

U-shift agtoumlu

We already briefly encountered the U-shift in Lesson 2 when dealing with the feminine form of adjectives The U-shift is a vowel change where a stem vowel a changes into an ouml or an u in unstressed syllables under the influence of a visible or invisible (ie lost) u in the next syllable You might say that arsquos in Icelandic are allergic to ursquos and break out into oumlrsquos or ursquos as soon as any u whether visible or invisible gets too close

The U-shift occurs throughout the Icelandic language and affects all words so it is helpful to start training yourself to look out for when it might occur As soon as there is an intermediate syllable that separates the two however the effect is neutralized and nothing happens Note that a U-shift only affects the individual vowel a not aacute or au which are separate vowels in Icelandic

Back to plural verb forms whenever there is an a in the stem of the verb it will change into ouml under the influence of the -u- in the first person plural ending -um Here are some examples

tal-a far-a tak-a vieth toumll-um foumlr-um toumlk-umthornieth tal-ieth far-ieth tak-ieth thornaeligr tal-a far-a tak-a

With the exception of the U-shift there are no vowel changes in the plural forms as there sometimes are in the singular (takamdashtek)

Note the plural forms of vera and eiga


vera eiga vieth erum eigum thornieth erueth eigieth thornau eru eiga

Exercise 1

Answer the following questions positively using jaacute or juacute as appropriate and answering lsquoyoursquo questions in the first person (lsquowersquo) Be sure to adjust the verb form to the subject where necessary and mind the possibility of a U-shift

Daeligmi Bakieth thornieth ekki brauethmdashJuacute vieth boumlkum braueth Donrsquot you bake bread Yes we bake bread

1 Talieth thornieth ekki iacuteslensku 5 Vinna thornaeligr ekki 2 Farieth thornieth ekki thornangaeth 6 Ganga thorneir niethur iacute baelig 3 Eiga thornau huacutesieth 7 Laeligrieth thornieth ekki iacuteslensku4 Kennieth thornieth ekki toumllvufraeligethi 8 Erueth thornieth iacute friacutei a Iacuteslandi

Language points

Cardinal numbers

In Icelandic the numbers 1 to 4 like adjectives and articles have different gender forms depending on whether they refer to a masculine a feminine or a neuter noun However after 4 it becomes easier Here are the numbers

1 einn ein eitt 2 tveir tvaeligr tvouml 3 thornriacuter thornrjaacuter thornrjuacute 4 fjoacuterir fjoacuterar fjoumlgur 5 fimm 8 aacutetta 6 sex 9 niacuteu 7 sjouml 10 tiacuteu 11 ellefu 21 tuttugu og einn 12 toacutelf 22 tuttugu og tveirhellip13 thornreacutettaacuten 14 fjoacutertaacuten 30 thornrjaacutetiacuteu 15 fimmtaacuten 40 fjoumlrutiacuteu 16 sextaacuten 50 fimmtiacuteu 17 sautjaacuten 60 sextiacuteu 18 aacutetjaacuten 70 sjoumltiacuteu 19 niacutetjaacuten 80 aacutettatiacuteu 20 tuttugu 90 niacuteutiacuteu


100 (eitt) himdraeth 1000 (eitt) thornuacutesund 101 hundraeth og einn 5121 fimm thornuacutesund eitt 121 hundraeth tuttugu og einn hundraeth tuttugu og einn 1000000 (ein) miljoacuten

Note that in number combinations og is used only to connect the last two digits For general counting the masculine forms of 1ndash4 are used including the reading out of phone numbers and doing arithmetic

Exercise 2

Practise the Icelandic numbers by reading and writing out the following phone numbers 464 1409 451 3268568 1543 566 7123487 1172 854 3789

And your own phone number Now listen to the speakers and see if you can write down the phone numbers they read

out

Exercise 3

Listen to the additions (+ pluacutes) and subtractions (minus miacutenus) read out by the speakers Can you give the correct answer in Icelandic

Plural nouns and articles

In Icelandic the plural form of a noun depends on its gender In some cases the singular ending is replaced by a plural one in others there will be a vowel change but no ending and sometimes there is no change at all Definite articles in Icelandic also have different forms if they are added to a plural rather than a singular noun Here are the nouns and articles for the three genders in their singular and plural forms


Some examples dagurinngtdagarnir borgingtborgirnar huacutesiethgthuacutesin skoacutelinngtskoacutelarnir roacutesingtroacutesirnar borethiethgtborethin stoacutellinngtstoacutelarnir ruacutetangtruacuteturnar barniethgtboumlrnin steinninngtsteinarnir taskangttoumlskurnar hundraethiethgthundruethin

The U-shift is at work here as well it occurs in feminine nouns which have a plural -ur ending as well as in neuter plural nouns with a stem -a- A U-shift is also at work in feminine nouns which have no ending in the singular and -ouml- or -u- in the stem such as gjoumlf lsquopresentrsquo and verslun lsquoshoprsquo lsquobusinessrsquo Note that in the plural the U-shift is neutralized by the -ir ending and these nouns get their original -a- back gjoumlf gtgjafir verslungtverslanir

The plural of maethur is irregulargtmenn With the definite article it becomes mennir-nir Whenever the plural of a noun does not conform to the patterns outlined above the correct plural ending will be added in brackets in the vocabulary notes and glossary

Exercise 4

Can you put the following nouns into the plural You will need to determine the gender of each noun so this is a good test for you to see if you are beginning to get the hang of doing this If you still find it a little difficult read through the relevant sections of Lesson 1 again Mind the possibility of a U-shift

biacutellmdashblaethmdashkirkjamdashpennimdashammamdashroacutesmdashbrauethmdashtoumllvamdashkennarimdashnafnmdashfyrirtaeligkimdashthornoumlkk (f)mdashkonamdashspjallmdashbuacuteethmdashstarf

Now add the correct form of the definite article first in the singular and then in the plural

Dialogue 2

Enn aacute Akureyri

Harpa and THORNoacuter continue their stroll through the town Whatrsquos to be found in the Lystigarethur Whatrsquos the oldest house in Akureyri called Where do THORNoacuter and Harpa go instead

THORNOacuteR Hvar er Lystigarethurinn Hann aacute aeth vera mjoumlg fallegur HARPA Vieth skulum sjaacute Lystigarethurinn Hann var stofnaethur aacuterieth 1912 og thornaeth er

ploumlntusafn thornar sem iacute maacute finna flestar iacuteslenskar ploumlntur THORNOacuteR Jaacute en hvar er hann HARPA Hann er ekki langt heacuteethan vieth erum bara fimm miacutenuacutetur aeth ganga niethur

Eyrarlandsveg thornar sem vieth vorum reacutett aacuteethan En vieth skulum frekar fara aeth skoetha Laxdalshuacutes fyrst


THORNOacuteR Laxdalshuacutes hvaetha huacutes er thornaeth HARPA Elsta huacutes aacute Akureyri THORNaeth er fraacute 1795 og stendur thornar sem fyrsta byggethin var THORNOacuteR Nuacute en klukkan er ekki nema tiacuteu Er opieth svona snemma HARPA Jaacute thornaeth er nuacute thornaeth THORNaeth er ekki opnaeth fyrr en klukkan eitt Hvaeth eigum vieth aeth

gera THORNOacuteR Faacuteum okkur kaffi og forum svo iacute Lystagarethinn HARPA Goacuteeth hugmynd gerum thornaeth Er kaffihuacutes naacutelaeliggt THORNOacuteR Jaacute thornaeth eru tvouml kaffihuacutes heacuterna upp fraacute HARPA Foumlrum thornangaeth

Still in Akureyri

THORNOacuteR Where is the Lystigarethur It is supposed to be very beautiful HARPA Letrsquos see The Lystigarethur It was founded in the year 1912 and there is a plant

collection where most Icelandic plants may be found THORNOacuteR Yes but where is it HARPA Itrsquos not far from here we only have to walk five minutes down Eyrarlandsveg

where we were just now But rather letrsquos go and have a look at Laxdal house first THORNOacuteR Laxdal house what house is that HARPA The oldest house in Akureyri It is from 1795 and stands where the oldest

settlement was THORNOacuteR I see but it is only ten orsquoclock Is it open that early HARPA Yes well there we are It doesnrsquot open until one orsquoclock What shall we do THORNOacuteR Letrsquos have a coffee and go to the Lystagarethur HARPA Good idea letrsquos do that Is there a cafe nearby THORNOacuteR Yes there are two cafes up the road here HARPA Letrsquos go there

Vocabulary notes Lystigarethur m

public park and botanical garden in Akureyri

skulum sjaacute letrsquos see (from skulu (skalmdashskaltmdashskal) lsquoshallrsquo) ploumlntusatn n plant collection (from planta f lsquoplantrsquo and safn n lsquocollectionrsquo lsquomuseumrsquo) finna (fiacutenn) find maacute finna may be found varmdashvorum were (past tense of vera) reacutett aacuteethan just now skoetha (skoetha) (havetake a) look at hvaetha what kind of elsta from elstur (superl) lsquooldestrsquo nema adv except ekki nema only thornaeth er nuacute thornaeth (infinitely flexible phrase usually meaning something like lsquothatrsquos how it isrsquo lsquothere

we arersquo) fyrr en before until


Language points

Numbers again

When counting something specific the grammatical gender of what it is you are counting determines which forms of these numbers you should use For instance in Icelandic houses are counted in the neuter (eitt tvouml thornrjuacute fjoumlgur huacutes) because huacutes is a neuter noun while roses are counted in the feminine (ein tvaeligr thornrjaacuter fjoacuterar roacutesir) because roacutes is a feminine noun

When counting larger numbers it is important to realize that the words hundraeth thornuacutesund and miljoacuten are nouns which have their own gender As a result when you speak of more than one hundred thousand or million these nouns have to be in their plural forms and you need to use the appropriate gender form of 1ndash4 when using them in combination with these nouns

hundraeth (n) gthundrueth eitt hundraeth -tvouml thornrjuacute fjoumlgur hundrueth thornuacutesund (n) gtthornuacutesund eitt thornuacutesund -tvouml thornrjuacute fjoumlgur thornuacutesund miljoacuten (f) gtmiljoacutenir ein miljoacuten -tvaeligr thornrjaacutei fjoacuterar miljoacutenir

This is not as complicated as it may look at first Rather it is a matter of keeping close track of the gender of each noun you are dealing with and just as with adjectives remaining aware every step of the way which number qualifies which noun For instance think carefully how you would say in Icelandic two thousand and fifty-two computers

The answer is tvouml thornuacutesund fimmtiacuteu og tvaeligr toumllvur Did you remember to use two different forms of lsquotworsquo the neuter form with thornuacutesund (n) and the feminine form with toumllvur (f)

Exercise 5

Put the following nouns in their plural forms adding the appropriate forms of the numbers 1ndash4

Daeligmi eitt tvouml thornrjuacute fjoumlgur huacutes borgmdashIacuteslendingurmdashfiacutellmdashappeiacutesinamdashsaeligtimdashbananimdashsjoacutemaethurmdash

skaacuteld

Money

The Icelandic currency is the kroacutena plural kroacutenur (f) If there is one thing we all tend to count a lot it is money So you need to determine what form of the numbers 1ndash4 to use when counting your kroacutenur Exactly Icelanders count their money in the feminine

Icelandic notes and coins 5000 kroacutenur 100 kroacutenur2000 kroacutenur 50 kroacutenur 1000 kroacutenur 10 kroacutenur 500 kroacutenur 1 kroacutena


Kroacutenur are also often popularly referred to as kall (equivalent to lsquoquidrsquo or lsquobucksrsquo) as in for instance tiacutekall (=tiacuteu lsquokallrsquo a 10-kroacutenur piece)

Iceland uses the metric system which means that larger amounts of money are separated by dots rather than by commas For example 44352 is fjoumlratiacuteu og fjoumlgur thornuacutesund thornrjuacute hundrueth fimmtiacuteu og tvaeligr kroacutenur

Exercise 6

Read and write out the following amounts in Icelandic

260 krmdash4373 krmdash640 krmdash17750 krmdash372465 krmdash4000000 kr

Now listen to the amounts read out by the speakers and see if you can write them down

Years

The Icelandic word for lsquoyearrsquo is aacuter n This means that years are counted in the neuter forms of 1ndash4 As in English centuries are counted in the hundreds rather than the thousands 1993mdashniacutetjaacuten hundnieth niacuteutiacuteu og thornrjuacute

Exercise 7

Read and write out the following years in Icelandic Can you match them with the appropriate Icelandic historical events listed on the right Try to do this exercise first without help from the vocabulary notes and see how much you can guess and piece together from the context

874 Joacuten Arason biskup haacutelshoumlggvinn Island tekur luacutetherska truacute1000 Bibliacutean prentueth aacute iacuteslensku

1402ndash(til) 1404 Tveir iacuteslenskir stuacutedentar ganga fyrstir upp aacute Heklutind 1550 Ingoacutelfur Arnarson byggir baelig sem heitir Reykjaviacutek 1584 Halldoacuter Laxness faeligr Noacutebelsverethlaun 1700 Um 2000 Iacuteslendingar flytja til Kanada 1750 Kristnitaka aacute IacuteslandimdashLeifur Eiriacuteksson finnur Norethur Ameriacuteku1787 Iacutesland gengur iacute NATO 1874 Svartidauethi a Iacuteslandimdash13 Iacuteslendinga deyr 1886 Verslun aacute Iacuteslandi gefin frjaacutels 1940 Bretar hernema Iacutesland 1944 Reagan og Gorbatsjof funda

iacute Reykjaviacutek 1949 Vigdiacutes Finnbogadoacutettir verethur forseti Iacuteslands 1955 Heklugos 1980 1000 aacutera byggeth a IacuteslandimdashIacutesland faeligr stjoacuternarskraacute 1986 Iacutesland verethur sjaacutelfstaeligtt lyacuteethveldi 2000 Iacuteslendingar taka upp gregoriacuteanskt tiacutematal


Vocabulary notes haacutelshoumlggvinn beheaded frjaacutels adj free adj hernema vb occupy (military) truacute f faith belief funda (funda) vb hold a meeting Heklutindur m top of Mt Hekla gos n eruption faacute (faeligmdashfaeligrethmdashfaeligr) vb get obtain stjoacuternarskraacute (-r) f constitution flytja (flyt) vb move (house) sjaacutelfstaeligethur adj independent

die lyacuteethveldi n republic deyja (deymdashdeyrethmdashdeyr) vb tiacutematal n calendar

MeasurementsmdashHow far How much How heavy

In Dialogue 1 THORNoacuter asks Harpa how old the church is Hvaeth er huacuten goumlmul English uses lsquohowrsquo to ask for amounts followed by the appropriate adjective how old how much how far how heavy how deep Icelandic on the other hand uses hvaeth followed by the remainder of the question keeping the adjective until the very last

hvaeth er hann stoacuter how bigtall is he (lit lsquowhat is he bigrsquo)hvaeth er huacuten sterk how strong is she hvaeth er biacutellinn gamall how old is the car hvaeth er thornetta thornungt how heavy is that

Did you notice how the form of the adjective reflects the gender of the subject in each sentence

Now look at the following measurements in Icelandic (desiacute)liacutetri (deci)litre kiacuteloacute(gramm) n kilogram gramm n gram (kiacuteloacute)metri (kilo)metre

Exercise 8

Answer the following questions using the numbers given and making sure to use the correct gender forms of the numbers and the correct plural forms of the nouns involved

1 Hvaeth er thornetta thornungt (2 kg) 2 Hvaeth er thornetta mikieth (4 l) 3 Hvaeth er barnieth thornungt (1543 gr) 4 Hvaeth er langt fraacute Kaupmannahoumlfn til Lissabon (3115 km) 5 Hvaeth er langt fraacute Pariacutes til Roacutem (1531 km) 6 Hvaeth er langt fraacute Amsterdam til Buacutedapest (1464 km)


Dialogue 3

Hvaeth eigum vieth aeth gera

While having lunch thornoacuter and Harpa are discussing their plans for the afternoon in Akureyri Is Laxdalshuacutes open on weekdays Does Harpa want to go and see Listagil Are THORNoacuter and Harpa going to see a play

THORNOacuteR Eigum vieth aeth fara iacute Laxdalshuacutesieth strax aacute eftir HARPA AElig jaacute gerum thornaeth eacuteg aeligtla endilega aeth skoetha Laxdalshuacutes THORNOacuteR En thornaeth er sunnudagur iacute dag Er opieth sunnudaga HARPA Jaacute meira aeth segja bara sunnudaga THORNOacuteR En suacute heppni HARPA Jaacute er thornaeth ekki Og hvaeth gerum vieth svo THORNOacuteR Vieth skoethum Listagilieth Eacuteg er buacuteinn aeth heyra mikieth um Listagilieth

HARPA Hvaeth er Listagilieth THORNOacuteR THORNuacute ert leiethsoumlgumaethurinn HARPA Skulum sjaacute jaacute heacuterna er Listagil lsquoheil gata iacute miethbaelig thornar sem eru listasafn

galleriacute vinnustofur listamanna menningarkaffihuacuteshelliprsquo En gaman Foumlrum endilega thornangaeth

THORNOacuteR Hvaeth um Leikhuacutesieth er ekki leikfeacutelag heacuter aacute Akureyri Hvernig vaeligri aeth fara iacute leikhuacutes iacute kvoumlld

HARPA Nei thornaeth er ekki haeliggt Leikhuacutesieth er bara opieth aacute veturna fraacute september til juacuteniacute stendur heacuter

THORNOacuteR Nuacute hvaeth Ekkert aacute sumrin HARPA Nei en hins vegar eru sumartoacutenleikar iacute Akureyrarkirkju THORNOacuteR Hvenaeligr HARPA Biacuteddu jaacute thornaeth stendur heacuterna fraacute juacuteliacute til aacuteguacutest sunnudaga kl 5 THORNOacuteR THORNaeth passar aacutegaeligtlega Jaeligja thornaacute er oumlrugglega best aeth fara af staeth Baeligrinn biacuteethur

What shall we do

THORNOacuteR Shall we go the Laxdal house directly after HARPA Oh yes letrsquos do that I really want to see the Laxdal house THORNOacuteR But itrsquos Sunday today Is it open on Sundays HARPA Yes whatrsquos more only on Sundays THORNOacuteR What luck HARPA Yes isnrsquot it And what do we do then THORNOacuteR Wersquoll have a look at the Listagil I have heard a lot about the Listagil HARPA What is the Listagil THORNOacuteR Yoursquore the guide


HARPA Letrsquos see yes herersquos Listagil lsquoa whole street in the city centre area where there is an art museum galleries artistsrsquo studios cultural cafeshelliprsquo Great By all means letrsquos go there

THORNOacuteR What about the theatre is there not a theatre company here in Akureyriacute How would it be to go to the theatre tonight

HARPA No thatrsquos not possible the theatre is only open in the winter from September to June it says here

THORNOacuteR Really Nothing in the summer HARPA No but on the other hand there is a summer concert in the Akureyri church THORNOacuteR When HARPA Wait yes it says here from July until August Sundays at 5 THORNOacuteR That suits just fine Well then itrsquos surely best to be on our way The town awaits

Vocabulary notes strax adv immediately endilega adv by all means eacuteg aeligtla endilega I would really like I really want to iacute dag today meira aeth segja whatrsquos more miethbaeligr (-ir) m town centre (from baeligr lsquotownrsquo) en gaman how lovely how wonderful hvernig vaeligri how would it be (THORNaeth) stendur heacuterna it says here (from standa (stend) lsquostandrsquo) ekkert nothing hins vegar on the other hand however sumartoacutenleikar from sumar n and toacutenleikar mpl summer concert biacuteddu wait (imp of biacuteetha (biacuteeth) lsquowaitrsquo) oumlrugglega adv surely certainly

Language points

Telling time 1 hours days months seasons

To find out what time it is you ask in Icelandic Hvaeth er klukkan lit lsquoWhatrsquos the clockrsquo The answer will be klukkan erhellip lsquothe clock ishelliprsquo Surprisingly although klukka is a feminine noun Icelanders tell the time in the neuter klukkan er eitt klukkan er tvouml klukkan erhellip hellip klukkan er fimmhellip

Can you fill in the gaps When asking or saying that something happens at such and such a time the verb vera

must be left out as in Klukkan hvaeth borethar thornuacute At what time do you eat

Eacuteg boretha klukkan eitt I eat at one (orsquoclock)

In written language klukkan is often abbreviated to kl


Exercise 9

Answer the following questions in Icelandic

1 Hvaeth er klukkan 2 Klukkan hvaeth fereth thornuacute aeth vinna 3 Klukkan hvaeth kemur thornuacute heim 4 Klukkan hvaeth fereth thornuacute aeth sofa 5 Klukkan hvaeth opna buacuteethirnar 6 Klukkan hvaeth fer ruacutetan af staeth (2 orsquoclock)

Now go back to Lesson 1 Exercise 7 and add the appropriate hours to the sentences you constructed there as in

lsquo10 amrsquo Eacuteghellipklukkanhellip

Weekdays months and seasons Vika=sjouml vikudagar Maacutenuethir Aacuterstiethir maacutenudagur januacutear thornriethjudagur februacutear Vetur m

miethvikudagur virkir dagar mars fimmtudagur apriacutel

foumlstudagur maiacute

vor n

laugardagur juacuteniacute sunnudagur

Juacuteliacute

halgi f

aacuteguacutest

sumar n

september oktober noacutevember

haust n

desember vetur m daglega vikulega maacutenaetharlega aacuterlega daily weekly monthly yearly

Note that in sentences references to parts of the week or the seasons often occur in different forms if they are not the subject of the sentence

Singular a particular weekday weekend season aacute sunnudaginn um helgina iacute vorum vorieth on Sunday on the weekend in the spring Plural always onin those particular


weekdays weekends seasons 1 with preposition aacute sunnudoumlgum um helgar aacute vorin

on Sundays on weekends in spring aacute virkum doumlgum aacute sumrin on working days aacute haustin aacute veturna

sunnudaga mdash mdash 2 without prepositionSundays

virka daga weekdays

The names of the months in Icelandic never change their form The masculine noun maacutenuethur has -ir as a plural ending instead of -ar maacutenuethir

Exercise 10


1 Vinnur thornuacute um helgar

2 Ert thornuacute iacute friacutei aacute sumrin

3 Ert thornuacute heima aacute virkum doumlgum

4 Iacute hvaetha maacutenuethi aacutett thornuacute afmaeligli (lsquobirthdayrsquo)

Exercise 11

On p 65 is a listing of museums and exhibitions in and around Hafnarfjoumlrethur (near Reykjaviacutek) Study it and see if you can answer the following questions

1 Er Siggubaeligr opinn aacute sunnudoumlgum

2 Er Galleriacute Klettur opieth aacute sunnudoumlgum

3 Hvenaeligr er ekki opieth iacute Hafnarborg

4 Er haeliggt aeth skoetha Sjoacuteminjasafnieth a veturna

5 Er Siacutevertsen-huacutes opieth aacute sumrin


Language points

Plural adjectives

Adjectives in Icelandic reflect not only the gender of the noun they describe but also like articles its number ie whether it is singular or plural These are the plural endings for adjectives

Masculine Feminine Neuter _____ir _____ar

Here are some examples heill heilir heilar heil sjaacutelfstaeligethur sjaacutelfstaeligethir sjaacutelfstaeligethar sjaacutelfstaeligeth svartur svartir svartar svoumlrt heilir bananar heilar appelsiacutenur heil viacutenber sjaacutelfstaeligethir menn sjaacutelfstaeligethar konur sjaacutelfstaeligeth boumlrn svartir hundar svartar toumlskur svoumlrt huacutes


Adjectives which have two syllables in the stem like liacutetill lose the second vowel in the masculine and feminine plural

liacutetill litlir litlar liacutetil mikill miklir miklar miacutekilopinn opnir opnar opin

Exercise 12

Connect the following adjective-noun combinations by putting the adjectives in the appropriate gender forms and then change both noun and adjective into their correct plural forms

Daeligmi graelignn ruacutetararrgraelign ruacutetamdashgraelignar ruacutetur 1 graacuter fiskur 6 langur vika 2 skemmtilegur blaeth 7 indaeligll fjoumllskylda3 fallegur mynd 8 rauethur roacutes 4 haacuter boreth 9 thornungur steinn 5 gamall maethur 10 sterkur kona

Suggested action

In Dialogue 1 Harpa asks THORNoacuter Eigum vieth aeth fara innhellip lsquoShould we go inrsquo THORNoacuter says no and suggests Houmlldum aacutefram lsquoLetrsquos go onrsquo The first person plural form of verbs is commonly used in Icelandic to suggest a course of action lsquoletrsquoshelliprsquo lsquoshallshould wehelliprsquo lsquoshouldnrsquot wehelliprsquo sometimes by itself and sometimes with the help of other verbs Here are some common constructions to suggest a particular action

1 The first person plural form of the verb without a subject as in Houmlldum aacutefram Letrsquos move oncontinue Foumlrum thornangaeth Letrsquos go there Faacuteum okkur kaffi Letrsquos get (ourselves) a coffeeGerum thornaeth Letrsquos do that

2 The first person plural form of eiga followed by aeth plus the infinitive form of the main verb usually in the form of a question

Eigum vieth aeth fara inn Should we go in Hvaeth eigum vieth aeth gera What should we do

3 The first-person plural form of skulu followed by the infinitive form of the main verb (Vieth) skulum sjaacute Letrsquos see Vieth skulum frekar fara thornangaeth Letrsquos rather go there


Exercise 13

You and your friend are in Reykjavik planning your first day of sightseeing You cannot quite agree on what to do first so each of you keeps suggesting an alternative Write the dialogue in Icelandic

1 You suggest going to have a look at the Parliament House (Althorningishuacutes) but your friend suggests rather walking up Laugaveg and looking at the shops

2 You observe that it is Saturday today and the shops are not open until 10 orsquoclock on Saturdays You suggest going there in the afternoon

3 Your friend then suggests going to the National Ethnographic Museum (THORNjoacuteethminjasafn) You remark that it is far away from where you are lsquofrom herersquo and should you not rather take a look at the Town Hall (Raacuteethhuacutes) and get yourselves a coffee there

4 Your friend asks where the Town Hall is You reply that itrsquos down the road lsquodown therersquo

5 Your friend thinks itrsquos a good idea and suggests you walk down there


4 Eacuteg aeligtla aeth faacutehellip Hvaeth verethur thornetta mikieth

I would like to gethellipHow much will that be In this lesson you will learn about

bull shop talk buying something ordering a snackdrink bull asking for availability vera meeth faacutest eiga til vera tilbull amounts and prices how much how many bull the declension of nouns and articles bull the use of cases after verbs and prepositions bull intentional future aeligtla bull asking for permission mega bull impersonal maethur bull addresses buacutea and eiga heima

Dialogue 1

Iacute boacutekabuacuteeth

Joyce wants to see something of the country and goes to a bookshop to buy a guidebook with a road map in it She finds some postcards she likes but no maps or guidebooks so she decides to enlist the help of the person at the counter (afgreiethslumaethur) Which part of the country does Joyce plan to visit Why is the map provided by a rental car agency insufficient for Joycersquos needs Why does Joyce need to find Austurstraeligti

JOYCE Goacuteethan daginn eacuteg aeligtla aeth faacute thornessi poacutestkort AFGR Hvaeth eru thornau moumlrg JOYCE Fjoumlgur AFGR Fleira JOYCE Jaacute eacuteg aeligtla aeth ferethast uacutet aacute land og mig vantar leiethsoumlgu-handboacutek meeth vegakorti AFGR Einmitt Vieth skulum sjaacute Hvaetha landshluta aeligtlarethu aeth heimsaeligkja THORNaeth eru til

mjoumlg goacuteethar baeligkur um alla landshluta JOYCE Eacuteg aeligtla aeth leigja biacutel og keyra hringveginn AFGR Nuacute jaacute Ef thornuacute leigir biacutel faeligrethu yfirleitt Iacuteslandskort meeth en thornaeth syacutenir manni bara

lauslega aethalvegina og merkisstaethi THORNessi boacutek heacuterna er mjoumlg vinsaeligl Huacuten er iacutetarleg og skyacuterir fraacute oumlllum einkennum iacute landslaginu og kortin iacute boacutekinni eru mjoumlg naacutekvaeligm THORNau syna til daeligmis liacuteka fjallvegina AEligtlarethu liacuteka aeth keyra yfir haacutelendieth Sprengisandsleiethina kannski

JOYCE Jaacute eacuteg hugsa thornaeth

AFGR THORNaacute thornarftu mjoumlg goacuteetha leiethsoumlgn Eacuteg maeligli meeth boacutekinni heacuter JOYCE Maacute eacuteg skoetha boacutekina aetheins AFGR Aeth sjaacutelfsoumlgethu gjoumlrethu svo vel JOYCE Takk Jaacute huacuten er fiacuten eacuteg aeligtla thornaacute aeth faacute thornessa boacutek Hvaeth kostar huacuten AFGR Huacuten er nuacute ekki oacutedyacuter huacuten kostar 2850 kr JOYCE Jaeligja thornaeth verethur bara aeth hafa thornaeth AFGR Eitthvaeth fleira JOYCE Nei thornaacute er thornaeth komieth Heyrethu juacute ertu meeth friacutemerki AFGR Nei thornviacute miethur en thornau faacutest aacute poacutesthuacutesinu JOYCE Hvar er thornaeth meeth leyfi AFGR Heacuterna niethur fraacute iacute Austurstraeligtinu JOYCE Nuacute jaacute takk Hvaeth verethur thornetta thornaacute mikieth AFGR THORNetta eru 3250 kr JOYCE Maacute eacuteg borga meeth greiethslukorti AFGR Gjoumlrethu svo vel

In a bookshop

JOYCE Good morning I would like to get these postcards AFGR How many are they JOYCE Four AFGR Anything else JOYCE Yes Irsquom planning to travel out into the country and I need a guidebook with a

road map AFGR Right Letrsquos see Which part of the country will you be visiting There are many

good books available about all areas of the country JOYCE I intend to rent a car and drive around the ring-road AFGR I see If you rent a car you will generally get a map along with it but it shows

you only roughly the main roads and sights This book here is very popular It is detailed and explains all the landmarks and the maps in the book are very accurate They also show the mountain roads for instance Do you intend to drive across the interior the Sprengisandur route perhaps

JOYCE Yes I think so AFGR Then you need a very good guide I recommend this book here JOYCE May I just have a look at the book AFGR Of course here you are JOYCE Thanks Yes itrsquos fine Irsquod like to get this book What does it cost AFGR It is not cheap it costs 2850 kr JOYCE Well therersquos nothing to be done about that AFGR Anything else JOYCE No thatrsquos it Listen yes do you have stamps AFGR No unfortunately but they are available from the post office JOYCE Where is that please AFGR Down the road here in Austurstraeligti JOYCE I see thanks How much does that come to AFGR Thatrsquos 3250 kr


JOYCE May I pay by credit card AFGR By all means

Vocabulary notes (eitthvaeth) fleira (anything) more (in shops often meaning lsquoanything elsersquo) thornessi this leiethsoumlguhandboacutek (-ar baeligkur)

guidebook (derived from leiethsoumlgn (-ar -ir) lsquoguidancersquo)

vegur (-ar-s -ir) m road (The hringvegur is the ring-road around Iceland which connects most towns and villages and is a popular route for tourists to see the country

Fjallvegir are unpaved roads sometimes no more than unmarked routes across the uninhabited interior (haacutelendi) of which the Sprengisandsleieth the route across the Sprengisandur desert is the most famous)

einkenni (-s -) n

characteristics

einkenni iacute landslaginu

landmarks

thornurfa (thornarf thornarft thornarf)

need

maeligla (maeligli) meeth dat

recommend

dyacutermdashoacutedyacuter adj dearmdashcheap thornaeth verethur bara aeth hafa thornaeth

an expression of resignation meaning something like lsquowersquoll just have to put up with itthatrsquo

(thornaacute er thornaeth) komieth

thatrsquos it thatrsquos all

Language points

We are now at the point where the inevitable can no longer be postponed declensions In Icelandic nominals (that is to say nouns articles adjectives numbers and pronouns) change their form to reflect their function in a sentence These different forms are known as cases So far we have dealt with the subject form of nominals known as the nominative case This is also the form in which nominals are found in dictionaries

When a nominal is used as an object it can take on one of three object cases the accusative the dative or the genitive which is determined by the main verb or preposition governing the object in question An example the verb keyra lsquodriversquo takes the accusative case which means that whatever is being driven will be in its accusative form Consequently while the Icelandic word for car will be listed in the dictionary as biacutell (THORNetta er biacutell) when you are driving it it becomes biacutel (Eacuteg keyri biacutel) A verb like skipta (lsquochangersquo) on the other hand requires its object to be in the dative so that in Icelandic you can never change peningar lsquomoneyrsquo but must always change peningum the dative form If there is a preposition in the sentence it rather than the verb will determine the case of the object friacutemerki faacutest aacute poacutesthuacutesinu (dative of poacutesthuacutes-ieth)

Eacuteg aeligtla aeth faacutehellip Hvaeth verethur thornetta mikieth 61

You have just grown accustomed to memorizing new nouns along with their gender Similarly whenever you come across a new verb (or preposition) make it a habit to check which case it governs and memorize both at the same time The glossary will tell you but you can also find out yourself once you have mastered the various declensions or case forms of nouns and their articles In the table opposite they are listed in the singular and the plural for each gender

The process of putting nominals in their various case forms is known as declension Of course there are deviations from the pattern outlined here Most nouns however

conform to it As of now information will be included in brackets following each new noun which tells you what you need to know about that noun grammatically in order to work with it the first dash is followed by the genitive singular ending of the noun and the second by the plural nominative ending These endings alert you to any possible deviations and show you how a noun may deviate from the pattern you have just learned staethur (-ar -ir) place

The -ur tells you that this is a masculine noun The singular genitive ending -ar informs you of a deviation Since the plural ending is listed as -ir you know that this noun belongs to the masculine -ir subgroup You can now fill in the rest of the picture by concluding that its accusative plural ending must therefore be -i instead of -a staethi -naacute

Exercise 1

Can you with the help of the information in brackets derive the complete singular and plural declensions of hluti (-a -ar) skeieth (-ar -ar) and kort (-s -)

Exercise 2

Go back to Dialogue 1 and write down all verbs and prepositions followed by an object (of course you only need to do each verb or preposition once) Study the objects you find and see if you can determine in which case they are and by extension which case the verb or preposition in question governs (note that sometimes it could be more than one case) Masculine Feminine Neuter

Athugieth 1 A substantial number of masculine nouns do not have -iacute nor any other ending in the dative singular for instance biacutell (datsg biacutel -num) and skaacutepur (datsg skaacutep -num) Unfortunately there are no rules to help us distinguish these nouns from other masculine nouns as with so many things in Icelandic you can only learn through usage 2 There is a subgroup of masculine nouns which has -ir instead of -ar in the nominative plural and -i in the accusative plural 3 Whenever an ending starts with a -u and the preceding syllable has an -a- in it the U-shift will occur for instance the feminine weak noun taska becomes toumlsku in all singular object cases and all plural cases except the genitive


4 The definite article in the plural dative case -num always causes the preceding lsquomrsquo in the noun ending to be dropped to facilitate pronunciation so we get for instance biacutelunum instead of biacutelumnum Note that the dative plural -unum ending is often pronounced lsquoonomrsquo

Did you notice that one verb syacutena had two objects an indirect (manni) and a direct one (aethalvegina og merkisstaethi) In cases where a verb can take two objects the first one will be in the dative and the second one in the accusative Such verbs are indicated in the glossary list by dat+acc

If you possibly can make it a habit of doing this with every new text or dialogue

Exercise 3

In the following sentences the objects are given in brackets in the nominative in the singular or plural and with or without the article as appropriate in each instance Can you put them in the proper cases You will need to know of course which case the verbs or prepositions govern so this information is provided for each sentence However to help you train yourself those verbs and prepositions occurring in Dialogue 1 have been left blank Do you remember what they govern without checking

1 THORNoacutera vinnur aacute ________ (hoacutetel) Huacuten er fraacute (dat) ________ (Iacutesland) en huacuten vinnur aacute ________ (Iacutetaliacutea) Huacuten talar (acc) ________ (iacutetalska-n) mjoumlg vel Hoacutetelieth er aacute ________ (aethalgata-n)

2 Joacuten skoethar ________ (myndir-nar) og ________ (merkisstaethir-nir) Hann aeligtlar liacuteka aeth heimsaeligkja ________ (Hallgriacutemskirkja)

3 Maacute eacuteg loka (dat) ________ (gluggi-nn) 4 Hvaeth aeligtlarethu aeth faacute Eacuteg aeligtla aeth faacute ________ (fiskur) 5 Afgreiethslumaethurinn hjaacutelpar (dat) ________ (kona-n) aeth finna leiethsoumlguhandboacutek

Intentional future aeligtla

In Icelandic it is very common to state an intention of doing something expressed by the verb aeligtla There is no exact equivalent for this in English but it comes close to the idea of lsquogoing torsquo or lsquoplan torsquo although it is also used in cases where we might say lsquoIrsquom thinking of or lsquoIrsquom wanting torsquo For example eacuteg aeligtla aeth leigja biacutel means lsquoI intendplanam going to rent a carrsquo AEligtla is an -a verb so its forms are familiar and it is always followed by aeth plus the infinitive form of whatever it is that you intend to do

Joyce aeligtlar aeth ferethast Joyce is going to travel THORNuacute aeligtlar aeth keyra yfir Do you plan to drive across thehaacutelendieth interior

In those cases where the intention is to lsquogorsquo somewhere the Icelandic verb in question fara is often left out altogether

Eacuteg aeligtla iacute poacutesthuacutes I intend to go to the post office Joyce aeligtlar iacute boacutekabuacuteeth Joyce intends to go to a book shop

Exercise 4


You are a tourist in Iceland and today is your first day You are in your Reykjaviacutek guest house making a list of all the things you plan to do today Here are some suggestions with the verbs in their infinitive forms Can you make them into full sentences using aeligtla Which of the suggestions has the least chance of succeeding See if you can add some of your own plans to the list

1 ganga niethur iacute baelig 2 fara () aacute Austurvoumlllinn 3 skoetha Althorningishuacutesieth og Doacutemkirkjuna 4 fara iacute boacutekabuacuteeth 5 kaupa poacutestkort 6 fara aacute kaffihuacutes 7 skrifa poacutestkortin 8 ganga upp Laugaveginn 9 skoetha buacuteethirnar 10 heimsaeligkja forsetann aacute Bessastoumlethum 11 hellip

Exercise 5

How would you say what your plans are for tomorrow This exercise has of course no set answer It depends on you

Saying what yoursquod like to get

AEligtla is also commonly used to say what you would like to get in a shop or restaurant as Joyce does in the dialogue Eacuteg aeligtla aeth faacute poacutestkortin and Eacuteg aeligtla aeth faacute thornessa boacutek AEligtla aeth faacute is thus a very use-ful construction to use to get what you want Remember however that the verb faacute governs the accusative so be prepared to know your shopping list and favourite menu items in their accusative forms

Faacute is a very common and useful verb to know It is conjugated as follows eacuteg faelig vieth faacuteumthornuacute faeligreth thornieth faacuteieth

faeligr

faacute

Another expression often heard instead of eacuteg aeligtla aeth faacute is mig vantar an impersonal construction meaning lsquoI needrsquo lsquoIrsquom in need of also followed by an accusative Donrsquot hesitate to use it if you would like to add some variety to your lsquoshoppingrsquo vocabulary but be aware that this construction is grammatically more complex (we shall come back to it in Lesson 8) less widely applicable (it is not used to place an order in a restaurant for instance) and easily confused with English lsquowantrsquo (of course it does mean lsquowantrsquo but strictly in the sense of lsquolackrsquo alone)


Do you havehellip

To ask if something is available you can use the following expressions 1 Vera meeth is a very common and very useful construction It means lsquocarryrsquo lsquohave on

yoursquo or lsquohave availablersquo It will be easy for you to start using it since you are already familiar with the forms of vera and all you need to do is add meeth and have it followed by an accusative

Ertu meeth penna Nei vieth erum ekki meeth ritfoumlng Do you have pens No we donrsquot carry any writing materials

2 The verb faacute also exists in a slightly different form faacutest (we shall come back to this -st form in Lesson 12) which can be translated as lsquobe availablersquo lsquoto be hadgotrsquo The final -st does not change the forms of faacute listed above so itrsquos easy to use It generally occurs in questions and statements regarding where or whether something is available

Ritfoumlng faacutest ekki heacuter Stationery is not available here Hvar faeligst thornetta Where is that available Where can I get that

3 As an alternative to the above you can also ask if it is possible to get something by using vera haeliggt aeth faacute

Er haeliggt aeth faacute vegakort heacuter Is it possible to get a road map hereEr haeliggt aeth faacute mjoacutelk Is it possible to get milk

Note that in these questions an equivalent for lsquoitrsquo is usually left out 4 Finally the expressions eiga til lsquohave in onersquos possessionrsquo (acc) and vera til lsquoexistrsquo

lsquobe availablersquo are also heard

THORNaeth eru til margar goacuteethar baeligkur um alla landshluta There are many good books available on all areas of the country Aacutettu til gosdrykki Do you have any soft drinks

How much How many

Now that you are able to ask for the things you want the shop assistant will want to know how much you want and yoursquoll want to know what itrsquos going to cost you Like English Icelandic distinguishes between countable and uncountable quantities which when large are referred to as margir lsquomanyrsquo or mikill (irregular neuter mikieth) lsquomuchrsquo respectively Although individual coins and notes are very countable when speaking about the cost of something or a final amount mikieth is the word to use So when asking for the price of something or for the final bill you say

Hvaeth kostar thornetta (mikieth) How much is itdoes it cost Hvaeth verethur thornetta mikieth How much will it bedoes it come to


Veretha means lsquobecomersquo but it is frequently used in Icelandic as a future form of vera Unlike vera its forms are regular it is an -ur verb Kosta ishellip(did you remember to note) an -a verb

Dialogue 2

Michael and his friends have been strolling and sightseeing in Reykjavik all day and are in need of a break and some refreshments Itrsquos one of those rare gloriously sunny and warm days however and all the pavement cafes are full They donrsquot want to go inside on a wonderful day like this so they decide to shop at a soumlluturn (a kiosk) and buy some drinks and snacks to enjoy in the sunshine on the grass Michael offers to order since he speaks Icelandic Donald and Michael both want a Coke (koacutek f) Joan prefers a fruit juice (aacutevaxtasafi m) Margaret would like to know if it is possible to have a coffee (kaffi n) if not she will have a Coke as well Donald and Margaret want a hot dog (pylśa f) Michael would prefer a hamburger (hamborgari m) and Joan wants an ice-cream (iacutes m)

Exercise 6

Listen to the following dialogue Can you say Michaelrsquos words given in English in brackets in Icelandic See if you can bring some variety to your vocabulary

M (1 Good day) __________ AFGR Goacuteethan dag M (2 Do you have any coffee) __________ AFGR Nei vieth erum bara meeth gosdrykki M (3 Is it possible to get hamburgers) __________ AFGR Nei bara pylsur M (4 Then wersquoll have three Cokes andhellipis there any fruit juacuteice) __________ AFGR Jaacute thornaeth er til Troacutepiacutekana M (5 hellipone Tropicana and then three hot dogs and one ice-cream) __________ AFGR Pylsur meeth oumlllu M (6 Yes How much will that come to) __________ AFGR 1135 kr M (7 IIere are 2000) __________ AFGR 865 gjoumlrethu svo vel M (8 Thanks) __________


May Ihellip Can Ihellip

Asking permission to do something is done in Icelandic with the help of the verb mega lsquomayrsquo which like its English counterpart is very irregular Its forms are as follows

Eacuteg maacute vieth megumthornuacute maacutett thornieth megieth hann thorneir huacuten maacute thornaeligr mega thornaeth thornau

It is followed by a verb in the infinitive but without aeth Maacute eacuteg skoetha boacutekina MayCan I have a look at the bookMaacute eacuteg borga meeth greiethslukorti MayCan I pay by credit card Maacute eacuteg faacute penna MayCan I have a pen

You may have noticed in previous dialogues that Icelandic seldom uses words equivalent to English lsquopleasersquo Icelanders are much more direct in their dealings with other people and tend to express politeness in very different ways Here are some polite phrases Be

careful not to overuse themmdashin Icelandic it is not necessary to be overly polite

Meeth leyfimdashlsquowith permissionrsquo often added to a straightforward question as in the dialogue above hvar er thornaeth meeth leyfi Do not use it together with mega choose one or the other

Gjoumlrethu svo velmdashdifficult to translate literally it serves many purposes It is often used as a polite lsquogo aheadrsquo lsquoplease be my guestrsquo or lsquoherethere you arersquo (when handing somebody something) Also used as an invitation to begin eating or drinking

Viltu gjoumlra svo vel aeth Would you pleasehellip

Meeth aacutenaeliggju With pleasure

Impersonal maethur

The noun maethur can mean different things You have already encountered it as a short form of karlmaethur lsquomanrsquo Most often however it is used to mean lsquopersonrsquo or lsquoonersquo

Hvernig gerir maethur thornaeth How does one do this Hvernig segir maethur thornaeth aacute iacuteslensku How does one say this in Icelandic

In Dialogue 1 you saw it used in the sentence thornaeth synir manni bara lauslega aethalvegina og merkisstaeth admin The form of maethur in this sentence already indicates its irregularity as a masculine noun Its complete declension follows here along with the definite article


maethur -inn menn -irnir mann -inn menn -ina manni -num moumlnnu(m) -num manns -ins manna -nna

Dialogue 3

Aacute poacutesthuacutesinu

Joyce goes to the main post office in Reykjaviacutek to post a package to Britain How long will Joyce still be in Reykjaviacutek Will she stay in a guest house in Borgarnes

JOYCE Goacuteethan daginn eacuteg aeligtla aeth senda smaacutepakka til uacutetlanda AFGR Hvert til uacutetlanda JOYCE Til Bretlands AFGR AEligtlarethu aeth senda hann iacute flugpoacutesti eetha meeth skipi JOYCE Hvaeth kostar aeth senda meeth flugi AFGR thornaeth fer eftir thornviacute hvaeth pakkinn er thornungur Sjaacuteum til 715 groumlmm thornaeth veretha thornaacute

1115 kr flugleiethis JOYCE Allt iacute lagi AFGR Viltu gjoumlra svo vel aeth fylla uacutet thornetta fylgibreacutef THORNuacute verethur aeth skrifa heimilisfang

viethtakanda og liacuteka thornitt heimilisfang JOYCE En eacuteg by ekki aacute Iacuteslandi eacuteg er ferethamaethur fraacute Bretlandi Eacuteg gisti iacute THORNverholti 4 AFGR Er thornaeth gistihuacutes JOYCE Jaacute thornaeth heitir Egilsborg AFGR Verethurethu lengi iacute baelignum JOYCE Nei eacuteg vereth hjaacute vinum iacute Borgarnesi eftir helgina AFGR THORNaacute er oumlrugglega best aeth nota thornaeth heimilisfang Hvar eiga thorneir heima iacute

Borgarnesi JOYCE THORNoacuterunnargoumltu 16

At the post office

JOYCE Good afternoon I would like to send a small package abroad AFGR To what country JOYCE To Britain AFGR Would you like to send it by airmail or surface mail JOYCE What does it cost to send it by air AFGR It depends on how heavy the package is Letrsquos see 715 grams That will be 1115

kr by air JOYCE All right AFGR Would you please fill in this form You must write the address of the addressee

and also your address


JOYCE But I donrsquot live in Iceland Irsquom a tourist from Britain I am staying at THORNverholt 4 AFGR Is that a guest house JOYCE Yes itrsquos called Egilsborg AFGR Will you be long in town JOYCE No I will be with friends in Borgarnes after the weekend AFGR Then itrsquos undoubtedly best to use that address Where do they live in Borgarnes JOYCE THORNoacuterunnargata 16

Vocabulary notes smaacutepakki (-a -ar) small package flugpoacutestur (-s) air mail thornaeth fer eftir thornviacute it depends on heimilisfang (-s -) address flugleiethis by air gista (gisti) stay (overnight)

Hvar aacutettu heima

Addresses in Icelandic are usually in the dative because they are often preceded by the prepositions iacute lsquoinrsquo or aacute lsquoonrsquo which in this instance govern the dative case The implication is so strong that even when the prepositions themselves do not occur for example on an envelope or in the telephone directory the address that is to say the street or farm and place-name will retain the dative form

THORNoacutera Aacuternadoacutettir Laugavegi 15561 6320 Joacuten Friethfinnsson Hvammi461 2345

Note that house numbers in Icelandic are always in the neuter Like English Icelandic distinguishes roads streets lanes avenues etc and as in

English one needs to know whether one lives lsquoinrsquo or lsquoonrsquo them What follows are some of the most common Icelandic terms listed under the appropriate preposition

(aacute +) (iacute +) gata (-u -ur) f street straeligti (-s -) street vegur (-ar -ir) m road tuacuten (-s -) field stiacutegur (-s -ar) m path melur (-s -ar) hillocktorg (-s -) n square

There are two ways of saying one lives somewhere using either buacutea lsquoliversquo or eiga heima (lit lsquohave onersquos homersquo) Buacutea is conjugated as follows

eacuteg byacute vieth buacuteumthornuacute byacutereth thornieth buacuteieth huacuten thorneir hann thornaeligr thornaeth byacuter thornau

buacutea


You already know the forms of eiga When followed by heima it is equivalent to and just as common as buacutea

Joacuten og Aacutesdiacutes buacutea a thornoacuterunnargoumltu 16=Joacuten og Aacutesdiacutes eiga heima aacute thornoacuterunnargoumltu 16

THORNau eiga heima iacute Sigtuacuteni Forsetinn byacuter a Bessastoumlethum

1 Landakotskirkja 2 Althorningishuacutesieth 3 Raacuteethhuacutes 4 THORNjoacuteethminjasafnieth 5 Kristiacuten


6 Doacutemkirkjan 7 Einar 8 Kolaportieth 9 Upplyacutesingamiethstoumleth Ferethamaacutela 10 Listasafn Iacuteslands 11 Hljoacutemskaacutelinn 13 Safnahuacutesieth-THORNjoacuteethleikhuacutesieth 14 Nyacutelistasafnieth 16 Umferetharmiethstoumlethin BSIacute 18 Listasafn Einars Joacutenssonar 19 Hallgriacutemskirkja

Exercise 7

The illustration above shows an inner-city map of Reykjaviacutek marked with sights and the addresses of Kristiacuten and Einar Use the map to answer the following questions (if itrsquos not completely clear which of several streets is the correct one just pick one thatrsquos close and likely)

1 Hvar er Listasafn Iacuteslands

2 Hvar er Raacuteethhuacutesieth

3 Hvar er Hallgriacutemskirkja

4 Hvar er Hljoacutemskaacutelinn

5 Hvar tekur maethur ruacutetu (coach terminal BSIacute)

6 Hvar stoppa margir straeligtisvagnar

7 Hvar byacuter Kristiacuten

8 Hvar aacute Einar heima

9 Og hvar byacutereth thornuacute


5 Foumlt

Clothing In this lesson you will learn about

bull descriptions of clothing and appearances bull the declensions of adjectives and numbers 1 to 4bull the use of cases continued bull the seasons in Iceland bull fraction nouns and adjectives bull interrogative pronoun declensions bull antonyms and compounds

Dialogue 1

Goumlngufatnaethur

Joyce is preparing for a hiking trip in the interior of Iceland She phones up her friend Brynja to consult with her on what clothing to take Where in Iceland will Joyce be hiking When is she leaving What does she need to buy

JOYCE Brynja saeligl vertu Eacuteg aeligtla iacute goumlngufereth aacute Vatnajoumlkul THORNaeth er viku-hoacutepfereth og vieth leggjum af staeth aacute morgun en eacuteg hef enga hugmynd um hverju maethur klaeligethist iacute svona fereth og hvers konar foumlt aacute aeth taka meeth

BRYNJA Maethur verethur alltaf aeth buacuteast vieth breytilegu veethri aacute Iacuteslandi THORNaeth er auethvitaeth alveg nauethsynlegt aeth vera meeth regngalla Aacutettu ullarnaeligrfoumlt og lopapeysu

JOYCE Nei eacuteg er bara meeth sumarfoumlt BRYNJA Sko veethrieth breytist oft aacute svipstundu og thornaeth er aldrei eins hlyacutett aacute fjoumlllum eetha aacute

joumlklum THORNaeth maacute jafnvel buacuteast vieth snjoacute thornar liacuteka aacute sumrin Margir eru iacute leacutettum foumltum til daeligmis bol og svo peysu Ef soacutelin syacutenir sig er maethur enga stund aeth fara uacuter peysunni og iacute soacutelbaeth Svo er ullarfatnaethur alltaf mjoumlg goacuteethur thornegar maethur verethur blautur iacute rigningu eetha fer yfir aacute vaethi THORNaeth er verst aeth vera iacute gallabuxum iacute svona fereth thornviacute thornaeligr eru svo lengi aeth thornorna

JOYCE Nuacute er thornaeth Eacuteg er bara meeth gallabuxur boli og boacutemullarpeysur THORNaeth er greinilegt aeth eacuteg vereth aeth skreppa iacute buacuteeth

BRYNJA Jaacute thornaeth thornyacuteethir ekkert annaeth En aacutettu goumlnguskoacute JOYCE Jaacute reyndar En hvaeth um yfirhoumlfn Eacuteg er meeth fliacutesjakka og regngalla BRYNJA Fiacutent aeth vera meeth fliacutesfatnaeth Ef thornuacute kaupir svo siacuteeth ullarnaeligrfoumlt og lopapeysu thornaacute

ertu tilbuacutein

JOYCE THORNakka thorneacuter kaeligrlega fyrir heilraeligethieth BRYNJA THORNaeth var nuacute liacutetieth Joyce Goacuteetha fereth og goacuteetha skemmtun

Hiking clothes

JOYCE Brynja hello I am going on a hiking trip on Vatnajoumlkull Itrsquos a weekrsquos group journey and we leave tomorrow but I have no idea about what one wears on such a trip and what kind of clothing one should take along

BRYNJA One must always expect changeable weather in Iceland Itrsquos of course absolutely necessary to have rainwear Do you have woollen underwear and a woollen sweater

JOYCE No I only have summer clothes with me BRYNJA You see the weather often changes in an instant and itrsquos never as warm in the

mountains or on the glaciers One can even expect snow there also in the summer Many wear light clothes for instance a shirt and then a jumper If the sun shows itself it doesnrsquot take a moment to take off the jumper and sunbathe Woollen clothing is also very good when you get wet in the rain or ford a river Itrsquos worst to wear jeans on such a trip because they take so long to dry

JOYCE Really I only have jeans shirts and cotton jumpers with me Itrsquos obvious I must pop out to a shop

BRYNJA Yes quite right Do you have hiking boots JOYCE I do as a matter of fact But what about outer garments I have a fleece jacket

and a rain suit BRYNJA Itrsquos good to have fleece clothing If you then buy long woollen underwear and

a woollen sweater yoursquoll be all set JOYCE Thanks very much for the good advice BRYNJA Not at all Joyce Have a good trip and have fun

Vocabulary notes goumlngu- walking hiking (from ganga (geng) lsquowalkrsquo) goumlngufereth (-ar -ir) f hiking trip Vatnajoumlkul1 (-s -ar) m

the largest glacier in Iceland located in the south-east

sko common interjection meaning something like lsquoyou seersquo lsquolook herersquo buacuteast (byacutest) vieth dat expect lopapeysa (-u -ur) f Icelandic sweater (The wool used in the traditional Icelandic sweater

called lopi is normally an unspun and undyed wool) aacute svipstundu in an instant maethur er enga stund (aeth infdat)

it takes no time at all (to)

fara iacute soacutelbaeth (-s -) n sunbathe blotna (blotna) intrans become wet vaeth (-s -) n ford fara yfir aacute vaethi ford a river thornorna (thornorna) intrans (become) dry

Foumlt 73

skreppa (skrepp) take a quick trip pop out thornaeth thornyacuteethir ekkert annaeth thatrsquos all there is to it quite right (lit lsquoit means nothing elsersquo) reyndar adv as a matter of fact siacuteethur adj long (vertical hair dress etc)

Language points

Klaeligethnaethur (clothing)

The following verbs and verb combinations are often used in connection with clothing klaeligethast (klaeligethist) dat be dressed in wearvera iacute dat wear have on fara iacute acc put on fara uacuter dat take off

Did you notice the cases these expressions govern You always wear your clothes in the dative in Icelandic but you put them on in the accusative Here is some vocabulary to practise these expressions as well as the noun declensions involved

Foumlt (klaeligethnaethur fatnaethur) bolur shirt buxur fpl trousersbluacutessa blouse stuttbuxur shorts skyrta button shirt sokkabuxur tights peysa sweater jumper pils n skirt vesti n waistcoat sokkur sock kjoacutell dress dragt f female suit jakkafoumlt npl male suit gallar mpl outfit suit eg regngallar rain suit iacutethornroacutettagallar jogging suit

Yfirhafnir Skoacuter (skoacutefatnaethur) (regn)kaacutepa (rain)coat skoacuter shoe frakki manrsquos overcoat iacutethornroacutetta- trainers uacutelpa parka spari- dress- jakki jacket striga sneakers inni slippers kulda- winter boots goumlngu- hiking boots stiacutegveacutel n boot klossi clog These prefixes are also commonly used with other clothing items eg sparifoumlt dress clothes goumlngubuxur hiking trousers etc

Yacutemislegt sundfoumlt npl swimwear naeligrfoumlt npl underwearsundbolur bathing suit naacutettfoumlt npl night wear


sundskyacutela swimming trunks

The declension of the masculine noun skoacuter is rather irregular in Icelandic Here it is skoacuter -inn skoacuter -nir skoacute -inn skoacute -na skoacute -num skoacute(m) -numskoacutes -ins skoacutea -nna

Icelandic vocabulary makes a distinction between actual clothing items that are worn like the above and what might be termed accessories such as glasses hats jewellery etc For these items the following verbal expressions are used

vera meeth acc

setja aacute sig acc

taka af seacuter acc

The first expression you already know of course it is used in many other situations as well So in Icelandic you lsquoare insidersquo your clothes but you lsquocarryrsquo any accessories

Eacuteg er iacute bol og gallabuxum og eacuteg er meeth soacutelgleraugu og toumlsku I am wearing a shirt and jeans and I am carrying sunglasses and a case

Here are some accessories in Icelandic that are lsquocarriedrsquo rather than lsquowornrsquo bindi n tie hattur hat spenna buckle clasp huacutefa woollen hatgleraugu npl glasses specs hetta hood veski n purse wallet hanski glove poki bag vettlingur mitten Skartgriacutepir (vasa)kluacutetur (hand)kerchief uacuter n watch sjal n shawl armband n bracelet trefill woollen scarf haacutelsfesti n necklace hnappur (tala) button hringur ring rennilaacutes n zip eyrnalokkur earring naeligla brooch

Exercise 1

Study the grammatical properties of the vocabulary above Use this information to help you describe what each person in the pictures overleaf is wearing What are you wearing today

Foumlt 75

Exercise 2

Now change the sentences you have just constructed using the expression for putting on clothes instead and adding the definite article in its appropriate form

1 Huacuten fer iacute uacutelpuna oghellip 2 hellip

More adjectives

Here are some more adjectives to help you describe peoplersquos clothing and appearances leacutettur leacutettklaeligddur light lightly dressed thornykkur hlyacuter velklaeligddur thick warm wellwarmly dressedthornaeliggilegur comfortable klaeligethilegur dressy skrautlegur decorative colourful

jaacutekvaeligethur (positive) smekklegur lsquotastefulrsquo myndarlegur lsquohandsomersquo glaeligsilegur lsquoelegantrsquo snyrtilegur lsquoneatrsquo lsquosmartrsquo saeligtur lsquosweetrsquo lsquoprettyrsquo flottur lsquosmartrsquo lsquocoolrsquo fiacutenn lsquoelegantrsquo lsquodressyrsquo neikvaeligethur (negative) oacutesmekklegur lsquotastelessrsquo druslulegur lsquountidyrsquo lsquosloppyrsquo ljoacutetur lsquouglyrsquo

faacuteranlegur lsquoridiculousrsquo gamaldags indecl lsquoold-fashionedrsquo


As in English you can often extend the vocabulary you already know by adding certain prefixes to adjectives For instance the following prefixes are often used to further qualify colours

ljoacutes- light- doumlkk- dark- skaeligr- bright- foumll- soft- pastel

The prefix oacute- is used with many adjectives to create the opposite like English lsquoun-rsquo

smekklegurmdashoacutesmekklegur thornaeliggilegurmdashoacutethornaeliggilegur

Exercise 3

Go back to the pictures in Exercise 1 Write sentences for each describing the clothing depicted there according to your own opinion Remember to pay attention to the correct gender forms of the adjectives you used

Daeligmi 1 Uacutelpan er flott Huacuten er hlyacute Huacuten er hviacutet etc

Adjectives take on not only the gender and number but also the case of the noun(s) they describe so in order to start using adjectives more elaborately you need to learn their case forms Before proceeding to the adjectival declensions however you should first make sure that you have a fairly firm grasp of the noun and article declensions so that you will not mix them up

masculine feminine neuter nom urlnr ____t

acc ____an ____a ____t dat ____um ____ri ____u

sg

gen ____s ____rar ____s nom ____ir ____ar

acc ____a ____ar

dat ____um ____um ____um

pl

gen ____ra ____ra ____ra

Athugieth Adjectives whose stem ends in a vowel like hlyacuter get a doubling of -r before an -r ending hlyacuterri hlyacuterrar hlyacuterra Adjectives with -ll or -nn get assimilation of -r in -r endings liacutetilli liacutetillar liacutetilla fiacutenni fiacutennar fiacutenna

Can you indicate where else in the above a U-shift may occur

J-insertion

According to Icelandic spelling a -j- is inserted whenever an -a-or -u- ending follows -yacute- -aelig- or -ey- This is particularly relevant for adjectives of which the stem ends in one of these vowels like nyacuter nyacutejan nyacutejum but nyacutes nyacuterri nyacuterrar (see Athugieth above)

Foumlt 77

Exercise 4

Decline the following pairs in the singular and the plural

svartur jakki skrautlegt pils fiacutenn kjoacutell thornykk peysa ljoacutett bindi nyacute dragt

Exercise 5

Put the adjectives in brackets into the sentences in their appropriate gender and case forms

1 Konan aacute _______ (blaacuter) biacutel 2 Eacuteg aeligtla aeth kaupa _______ (nyacuter) peysu og _______ (graacuter) skoacute 3 Maethurinn er iacute _______ (hviacutetur) skyrtu _______ (svartur) buxum og _______ (nyacuter)

spariskoacutem 4 Konan klaeligethist _______ (gulur) bluacutessu _______ (bruacutenn) pilsi _______ (gulur)

sokkabuxum og _______ (graelignn) klossum 5 Stelpan fer iacute _______ (rauethur) uacutelpu og setur aacute sig _______ (hlyacuter) huacutefu _______

(langur) trefil og _______ (stoacuter) vettlinga

Reading 1

Aacuterstiethir aacute Iacuteslandi

Veturinn er fraacute januacutear til mars Hann er langur og frekar kaldur Oftast er eacuteljagangur snjoacuter og frost og oft er mjoumlg hvasst Dagarnir eru stuttir iacute skammdeginu Vorieth er fraacute apriacutel til juacuteniacute THORNaacute fer aeth hlyacutena dagarnir lengjast og loacutean kemur til landsins Naacutettuacuteran vaknar uacuter vetrarsvefni og allt byrjar aeth bloacutemstra

Sumarieth er fraacute juacuteliacute til september THORNaacute er bjart allan soacutelarhringinn og thornegar soacutelin skiacuten er oft mjoumlg hlyacutett og thornaeliggilegt allt upp iacute 20ndash25 stig THORNaeth eru margar uacutetihaacutetiethir og margir fara iacute uacutetilegu En thornaeth getur liacuteka verieth svalt jafnvel kalt seacuterstaklega a haacutelendinu og thornaeth maacute alltaf buacuteast vieth uacuterkomu Iacute aacuteguacutest og september fara menn iacute berjamoacute

Haustieth er fraacute oktoacuteber til desember Haustlitirnir eru mjoumlg fallegir en um haustieth fer liacuteka aeth koacutelna og thornaeth er oft rigning og hvasst

Vocabulary notes eacuteljagangur (-s) intermittent snow or hailstorms hvass adj windy blowing hard skammdegi (-s) short days of winter hlyacutena (hlyacutena) intrans become warm(er) lengjast (lengist) intrans

become longer

loacutea (-u -ur) golden plover (The return of the plover traditionally heralds the coming of


spring in Iceland) soacutelarhringur (-s) 24 hours around the clock uacutetihaacutetieth (-ar -ir) outdoor festival fara iacute berjamoacute go berry-picking koacutelna (koacutelna) intrans cool down become cold(er)

Exercise 6

Read the text above carefully Imagine you are in Iceland for a full year What kind of clothing will you wear during each season

1 Vetur eacuteg aeligtla aeth vera iacute ______ 2 Vor eacuteg ______ 3 Sumar 4 Haust

Language points

Fraction

In Dialogue 1 we encountered such forms as joumlklum from joumlkull and veethri from veethur Icelandic nouns and adjectives that have two syllables in the stem such as joumlkull and veethur lose the second stem vowel whenever a vowel ending is added

joumlkul-irarrjoumlkli veethurirarrveethri gamal-anrarrgamlan opin-ir rarropnir

This phenomenon is known as fracture (brotfall) Note that there are some important exceptions to this rule

1 Fraction only occurs before noun or adjective endings not before the suffixed article sumr-i (dat sg) but sumar-ieth

2 Fraction does not occur in adjectives ending in -legur fallegur rarrfalleg-an falleg-ir

Exercise 7

Put the nouns and adjectives in brackets into the following sentences in their correct forms You will have to determine the appropriate number case and gender as well as consider the possibility of fraction

1 THORNaeth eru margir _______ (joumlkull) aacute Iacuteslandi 2 Boumlrn _______ setja (trefill) aacute sig 3 Pevsurnar eru _______ (gamall) 4 Mamma aacute _______ (fallegur) biacutel 5 Soumlfnin eru _______ (opinn) 6 Ert thornuacute meeth _______ (lykill-inn) Jaacute eacuteg er meeth alla _______(lyklar-nir) 7 Hundarnir eru _______ (liacutetill) og _______ (saeligtur)

Foumlt 79

8 Winston Churchill reykti (acc) _______ _______ (stoacuter vindill pl)

Reading 2

Draumur um bruacuteethkaup iacute hviacutetum kjoacutel

Where is Muriel from What is her greatest wish Aacutestralska gamanmyndin Bruacuteethkaup Muriel sem nuacute er syacutend iacute Haacuteskoacutelabiacuteoacutei fjallar um unga stuacutelku sem byacuter iacute liacutetlum strandbaelig Stuacutelkan heitir Muriel og aacute seacuter thornaacute oacutesk heitasta aeth finna aacutestina siacutena og gifta sig iacute hviacutetum bryacuteetharkjoacutel THORNviacute miethur reynist Muriel erfitt aeth faacute oacutesk siacutena uppfyllta thornviacute huacuten er oacuteframfaeligrin og oacuteoumlrugg meeth sig

Toacutenlist saelignsku hljoacutemsveitarinnar ABBA er mikilvaeligg iacute liacutefi Muriel THORNar er tilveran svo bjoumlrt og aacutehyggjulaus og gjoumlroacuteliacutek thorneirri sem Muriel thornarf aeth takast aacute vieth Hogan er mikill aethdaacuteandi ABBA og lagethi hann aacute sig oacutemaeliglt erfiethi til aeth faacute leyfi hljoacutemsveitarmeethlima til aeth faacute aeth leika toacutenlistina iacute myndinni

Bruacuteethkaup Muriel hefur hlotieth goacuteethar viethtoumlkur baeligethi heacuter aacute landi og erlendis Adapted from Gerethur Kristnyacute lsquoBruacuteethkaup Murielrsquo

Nyacutett liacutef 185 (juacuteliacuteaacuteguacutest 199530)

Vocabulary notes gamanmynd comedy film takast aacute vieth struggle with (-ar -ir) leggja aacute sig take on aacute seacuter thornaacute oacutesk has as her (legg) heitasta greatest wish lagethi hann aacute sig he spared himselfgifta sig (gifti) get married oacutemaeliglt erfiethi no trouble reynast erfitt prove difficult hefur hlotieth has been well oacuteliacutekur adj unlike different goacuteethar viethtoumlkur received (from from hljoacuteta (hlyacutet) gjoumlroacuteliacutek thorneirri completely lsquoreceiversquo) sem different from baeligethi n of baacuteethir both the one that

Language points

Declension of numbers 1ndash4

The numbers 1ndash4 in Icelandic not only have different gender forms but like adjectives they have different case forms as well These are the declensions

PJHogan leikstjoacuteri myndarinnar


As you see there are twelve ways of saying 1 2 3 and 4 in Icelandic depending on the gender of the noun and its position in the sentence

Exercise 8

Put the correct case and gender forms of the numbers 1ndash4 into the following sentences Remember to change the nouns into the correct plural and case forms after 1

1 Stroacutekurinn aacute ______________________ (1234 hjoacutel n lsquobikersquo) 2 Brynja er iacute ______________________ (1234 pevsa) 3 Joacuten fer iacute ______________________ (1234 jakki) 4 Afi aacute ______________________ (1234 mynd) 5 Heacuterna eru ______________________ (1234 kroacutena) 6 Vieth forum til (gen) ______________________ (1234 land)

Exercise 9

Football (knattspyrna foacutetbolti) is one of the most popular sports in Iceland Listen closely to the radio broadcast Can you fill in the scores Note that mark lsquoscorersquo lsquogoalrsquo is neuter and that depending on the sentence the numbers may occur in different case forms Also note that lsquozerorsquo can be nuacutell but also ekkert dat engu lsquonothingrsquo

SkagamennmdashValsmenn _____ mdash _____KRmdashBreiethablik _____ mdash _____GrindaviacutekmdashVestmannaeyingar _____ mdash _____BlikmdashIacuteBA _____ mdash _____

Foumlt 81

More interrogatives

By now you are familiar with most interrogatives in Icelandic hver hvaeth hvaetha hvar hvenaeligr hvernig hvert and hvaethan They are not all grammatically similar however The first two are interrogative pronouns whereas the others are interrogative adverbs Adverbs of any kind are easy in Icelandic because they are not declined but pronouns are declined including interrogative pronouns if you are asking for an object rather than a subject the verb or preposition in the sentence will determine the case of hver or hvaeth This can be tricky because interrogatives usually start off the question so that you need to think in advance of the verb you are going to use and which case it governs

Hvaeth (subj) er thornetta but Hverju (neut dat) svarar (dat) thornuacute What do you answer

With prepositions it is a little easier because they can be put before the interrogative pronoun and can help clue you in on the case form that is to follow

Iacute (dat) hverju er huacuten What is she wearing (lit lsquoIn what is shersquo) Meeth (dat) hverjum forum vieth With whom do we go

These are the forms masculine feminine neuter sg nom hver hver hvaeth acc hvern hverja hvaeth dat hverjum hverri hverju gen hvers hverrar hvers pl nom hverjir hverjar hver acc hverja hverjar hver dat hverjum gen hverra

In general the masculine form is used when asking about people unless you know you are specifically asking about a woman or women The neuter is used to ask about some thing or things

Exercise 10

Construct questions for the following answers using the (correct form of the) appropriate interrogative


1 _____________ Posthuacutesieth er iacute Austurstraeligti

2 _____________ THORNaeth kostar 11000 kroacutenur

3 _____________ Eacuteg segi allt gott

4 _____________ Eacuteg fer iacute kvoumlld

5_____________ THORNetta er kunningi minn

6mdashmdashmdashmdashmdashmdash Eacuteg er aeth fara niethur iacute baelig

7 _____________ Huacuten klaeligethist bluacutessu og buxum

8 _____________ Hann saknar (lsquomissesrsquo gen) barnsins

Adjectives 2 opposites

Exercise 11

Match the adjectives in the left-hand column with their opposites on the right goacuteethuraacutegaeligtur kaldur hlyacuter leiethinlegur svartur stoacutermikill siacuteethurlangur vondurslaeligmurheitur stuttur nyacuter svalur liacutetill hviacutetur foumllur auethveldur ljoacutes thornungur leacutettur snyrtilegur skemmtilegur ljoacutetur fallegur gamall druslulegur doumlkkur erfiethur skaeligr

Most of the other adjectives introduced in this chapter make their opposites by adding (or taking off) -oacute- Fill in the gaps breytilegurmdashoacutebreytilegur thornaeliggilegurmdashhellip smekklegurmdashhellip myndarlegur hellip oacuteoumlraggurmdashhellip oacuteliacutekurmdashhellip

Exercise 12

Fill in the gaps with adjectives what words can you think of to describe the following (Think of the appropriate gender forms)

Foumlt 83

Haacuter Munnur Veethur (n) Biacuteoacutemynd(hair n) (mouth m) (filmf) siacutett stoacuter

Language points

Compounds

Compounds are nouns made up of two or more individual words which are put together in certain ways to form a new word like lsquoschoolbagrsquo or lsquotoothpastersquo In Icelandic compounds are constructed as follows (in order of frequency)

1 The first word is added to the next word in the genitive form singular or plural whichever makes more sense ullarfatnaethur (ull+fatnaethur) lopapeysa (lopi+peysa) biacutelasali (biacutell+sali)

2 The stem of one word is added to another word hoacutepfereth (hoacutepur +fereth) biacutelstjoacuteri (biacutell+stjoacuteri)

3 Individual words are combined with the help of connective letters usually -i- or -u- or -an- or -in- spar-i-skoacuter maacuten-u-dagur faacuter-an-legur leieth-in-legur

In all compounds the final part determines the gender and thus its declension

Exercise 13

On the left is a list of materials How many compounds can you construct matching the various materials up with clothing items listed on the right

boacutemull (-ar f cotton) sokkarleethur (-s n leather) skoacuter galli (-a m denim) jakki gull (-s n gold) bolur treacute (-s n wood) stiacutegveacutel plast (-s n plastic) buxur guacutemmiacute (-s n rubber) poki lopi (-a m unspun wool) hringurull (-ar f wool) huacutefa

Now do the same for the following columns


soacutel (f) uacuter spara (spara) spenna bruacuteethur (-ar -ir f bride) frakki vasi (pocket) band haacuter efni (-s n material)hetta gleraugu teygja (stretch) kjoacutell vetur (-rar -ur m) peysa

Exercise 14

Look at the advertisement below Which items are on sale (afslaacutettur m lsquodiscountrsquo) Which items are expected before the weekend Are all advertised items clothing items

Reading 3

Skuggi skammdegisins

Skammdegi refers to the midwinter period in Iceland when the days are at their shortest with only 4ndash6 hours of daylight The influence of the winter darkness on the mind and body has been a favourite topic of speculation and research This is what some Icelanders have to say on the topic Which period does Hermann find the most difficult Is Soacuteley active during the winter What time of the year does Nina Bjoumlrk prefer

Hermann Ragnar danskennari lsquoMeacuter finnst haustieth yndislegur tiacutemi THORNaacute hefja skoacutelarnir og leikhuacutesin starfsemi siacutena Haustlitirnir eru svo fallegir og lerkitreacuten iacute garethinum miacutenum veretha fagur-gulbruacuten Eacuteg

Foumlt 85

hlakka alltaf til joacutelanna en thornegar sloumlkkt hefur verieth aacute joacutelaljoacutesunum aacute thornrettaacutendanum fer iacute houmlnd erfiethari tiacutemirsquo

Soacuteley leikkona lsquoEacuteg er fremur liacutefsgloumleth aeth eethlisfari en aacute haustin vereth eacuteg loumlt og niethurdregin THORNaacute langar mig helst til aeth kuacutera undir saeligng allan daginn Eacuteg vereth liacuteka vor vieth aeth boumlrnin miacuten eiga erfiethara meeth aeth vakna aacute morgnana Joacutelin leacutetta meacuter lundina en iacute byrjun februacutear vereth eacuteg aftur loumltrsquo

Niacutena Bjoumlrk skaacuteld lsquoEacuteg vereth voumlr vieth thornunglyndi fyrst aacute vorin thornegar thornaeth fer aeth birta aacute nyacutejan leik Meacuter liacuteethur aftur aacute moacuteti vel iacute roumlkkrinu vieth kertaljoacutes THORNess vegna er haustieth skemmtilegasti aacuterstiacuteminn og september uppaacutehaldsmaacutenuethurinn minnrsquo

Adapted from Gerethur Kristnyacute lsquoSkuggi skammdegisinsrsquo Nyacutett liacutef 178 (1994126ndash8)

Vocabulary notes meacuter finnst impers I find lerkitreacute (-s -) n larch thornegar sloumlkkt hefur verieth aacute joacutelaljoacutesunum

when the Christmas lights have been turned off

thornrettaacutendi (-a) 6 January (lit lsquothe thirteenthrsquo or lsquotwelfth nightrsquo Epiphany traditionally the end of the Christmas season)

fara iacute houmlnd approach liacutefsglaethur adj cheerful latur adj lazy kuacutera (kuacuteri) undir saeligng snuggle down into bedveretha var (voumlr f) vieth acc notice experience eiga erfiethara meeth have a harder time leacutetta meacuter lundina raise my spirits thornunglyndi (-s) n depression aacute nyacutejan leik once more again meacuter liacuteethur vel impers I feel good aftur aacute moacuteti on the other hand


6 Aacute fereth og flugi

On the move In this lesson you will learn about

bull travelling by bus and air bull booking and buying tickets bull telling the time 2 bull schedules bull personal pronoun declensions bull expressions of necessity and future intentionbull radio and television programmes

Dialogue 1

Aeth panta flug

Richard has a few extra days to spare in Iceland and would very much like to visit the Vestmannaeyjar (lsquoWestmen Islandsrsquo) off the south coast of Iceland before he goes home He decides to phone Flugfeacutelag Iacuteslands (lsquoAir Icelandrsquo) for flight information and dials the central information number When can Richard leave On which day does the conversation take place How long is Richard going to stay in the Vestmannaeyjar At what time does he have to be at the airport

SIacuteMSVARINN THORNetta er Flugfeacutelag Iacuteslands Veldu einn fyrir upplyacutesingar veldu tvo fyrir boacutekanir (Richard chooses 1 but the automated information is of no use to him so he tries again this time choosing 2)

SIacuteMSVARINN THORNviacute miethur eru allar liacutenur uppteknar sem stendur Siacutemtoumllum er svaraeth iacute roumleth (Richard waits his turn until someone answers the phone)

AFGR Flugfeacutelag Iacuteslands goacuteethan dag RICHARD Goacuteethan daginn eacuteg aeligtla aeth faacute upplyacutesingar um flug til Vestmannaeyja AFGR THORNaeth er flogieth thornrisvar aacute dag kl 0705 1400 og 1650 maacutenudaga til laugardaga

og kl 8 1330 og 1650 aacute sunnudoumlgum RICHARD Nuacute jaacute og eru oumlll flugin bein AFGR Jaacute thornaeth eru engar millilendingar RICHARD Hvaeth er lengi verieth aeth fljuacutega thornangaeth AFGR Flugieth tekur 25 miacutenuacutetur RICHARD Og hvaeth kostar miethinn AFGR Skulum sjaacutehellipHann kostar 4965 baacuteethar leiethir

RICHARD Er laust saeligti iacute veacutelinni sem fer seinni partinn iacute dag AFGR Nei huacuten er fullboacutekueth en thornaeth eru nokkur laus saeligti iacute fyrramaacutelieth RICHARD Jaeligja thornaacute aeligtla eacuteg aeth panta mietha meeth fluginu iacute fyrramaacutelieth AFGR Og hvenaeligr viltu koma aftur RICHARD Ekki aacute morgun heldur hinn daginn AFGR Aacute foumlstudaginn RICHARD Jaacute meeth siacuteethdegisflugi ef haeliggt er AFGR Jaacute thornaeth er haeliggt Hvaeth er nafnieth RICHARD Richard Johnson AFGR Heimilisfang og siacutemanuacutemer RICHARD Eacuteg gisti aacute Hoacutetel Iacuteslandi herbergisnuacutemerieth er 364 AFGR Ertu meeth siacutema iacute Vestmannaeyjum thornar sem haeliggt er aeth naacute iacute thornig RICHARD Nei eacuteg veit ekki ennthornaacute hvar eacuteg aeligtla aeth gista AFGR Allt iacute lagi en hafethu thornaacute samband vieth umboethsmann aacute flugvellinum aacuteethur en thornuacute

fereth RICHARD Jaacute eacuteg geri thornaeth AFGR Brottfarartiacutemi iacute fyrramaacutelieth er kl 0705 maeligting aacute flugvelli er klukkan haacutelf sjouml RICHARD Fiacutent er thornakka thorneacuter fyrir AFGR Gjoumlrethu svo vel

Vocabulary notes siacutemsvari (-a -ar) answering machine veldu impsg of velja (vel)acc

choose

upptekinn adj busy sem stendur as it is right now siacutemtoumllum er svaraethiacute roumleth telephone calls are answered in sequence fljuacutega (flyacuteg) fly thornaeth er flogieth there are flights flights are running (lit lsquoit is flownrsquo) seinni partinn in the afternoon iacute fyrramaacutelieth tomorrow morning hinn daginn the day after tomorrow siacuteethdegis in the afternoon naacute (naelig naeligreth naeligr) iacute acc reach hafethu samband vieth impsg get in touch with umboethsmaethur agent (ie of the airline) brottfarartiacutemi (-a -ar) time of departure maeligting (-ar -ar) attendance lsquobe there athelliprsquo (In this case the expression refers of course

to the check-in time)


Language points

Travelling in Iceland

Travel in Iceland is conducted mostly by car bus or aeroplane There are no trains or railways but most of the larger towns can be reached by plane and nearly all towns and villages are on or connected to a coach route

Vocabulary General travel fereth f trip journey seinkun f delay ferethalag n journey voyage faraleggja af staeth depart far n ride passage ferethast (ferethast) travel fargjald n fare koma til gen arrive (far)miethi (travel) ticket komast (kemst) get (to) (farseethill) panta (panta) (far)kort (travel) pass boacuteka (boacuteka) acc book farmiethasali booking office afgreiethslustaethur reservations aethra leieth one-wayfram og aftur return verethskraacute (-ar -r)

f list of fares

fram og til baka

Aeroplane

baacuteethar leiethir

(flug)veacutel f aeroplane laacutegmarksdvoumll minimum

flugvoumlllur airport required stay

fljuacutega (flyacuteg) fly

farthornegi passenger

(feretha)aacuteaeligtlun f

schedule innanlands domestic

utanlands internationaltiacutematafla timetable millilending stop-over maeligting check-in time brottfoumlr f departure Coach koma f arrival ruacuteta coach gildistiacutemi time of

validity (aacuteaeligtlunarbiacutell)

biethlisti waiting list umferetharmiethstoumleth main coach

Aacute fereth og flugi 89

fullboacutekaethur adj

fully booked BSIacute (-var terminal

leieth f route -var) f aacute leiethinni en route on viethkomustaethur stop the way (stoppistoumleth) um boreth on board

Telling time 2 ein klukkustund (-ar -ir) einn klukkutimi (-a -ar) one hour haacutelftiacutemi (-a -ar) half an hour korter (-s -) a quarter (of an hour)miacutenuacuteta (-u -ur) a minute sekuacutenda (-u -ur) a second haacutedegi (-s) n noon miethnaeligtti (-s) n midnight

01001300 klukkan er eitt 01051305 klukkan er fimm miacutenuacutetur yfir eitt 01151315 klukkan er korter yfir eitt 01301330 klukkan er haacutelf tvouml 01401340 klukkan er tuttugu miacutenuacutetur iacute tvouml 01451345 klukkan er korter iacute tvouml 02001400 klukkan er tvouml more formally also klukkan er fimm miacutenuacutetur gengin iacute tvouml more formally also klukkuna vantar tuttugu miacutenuacutetur iacute tvouml

Note that Icelanders do not use am and pm Usually the context makes clear whether it is before or after noon (aacuterdegis or siacuteethdegis fyrir haacutedegimiethnaeligtti eftir haacutedegimiethnaeligtti) In programming and schedules the 24-hour clock is used klukkan fjoacutertaacuten fimmtiacuteu is 250 pm

Exercise 1

Read and write out the following times

625 1830 1510 445 1255 2335 520 2040 1050 2100 1115

Exercise 2

Listen to and write out the times read out in the recording To say in Icelandic how many times something happens you use the dative form of

sinn (-s -) n in the singular or plural as appropriate When used in combination with a number 1 or 4 the numbers must also be in the dative while the numbers 2 and 3 have special forms tvisvar and thornrisvar which can be followed by sinnum or used on their own


einu sinni once tvisvar (sinnum) twice thornrisvar (sinnum) three times fjoacuterum sinnum four times fimm sinnum five times etc

Exercise 3

Look at the flight and coach schedules on pp 108ndash9 and answer the following questions in Icelandic

1 Klukkan hvaeth er flogieth til Iacutesafjarethar aacute fimmtudoumlgum

2 Er haeliggt aeth fljuacutega til Hornafjarethar aacute laugardagsmorgnum

3 Hvaeth er flogieth oft aacute viku til Faeligreyja

4 Klukkan hvaeth fer kvoumlldruacutetan fraacute Bifroumlst til Reykjaviacutekur

5 Klukkan hvaeth kemur thornuacute til Borgarness ef thornuacute tekur ruacutetu fraacute Reykjaviacutek kl aacutetta um morguninn

Allt aacuterieth (all year) S M THORN M F F L Fraacute Reykjaviacutek 0800 0800 0800 0800 0800 0800 0800(From) 1700 1700 mdashAkureyri 0930 0930 0930 0930 0930 0930 0930 1700 1700 156ndash158 Fraacute Reykjaviacutek 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700mdashAkureyri 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700

AFGREIETHSLUSTAETHIR Reykjaviacutek Bifrst Iacuteslands (BSIacute) Umferetharmiethst siacutemi 552 2300

Staetharskaacuteli siacutemi 451 1150 Hvammstangi Soumlluskaacutelinn siacutemi 451 2465 Skagastroumlnd Hoacutetel Dagsbruacuten siacutemi 452 2730 Bloumlnduoacutes Bloumlnduskaacutelinn siacutemi 452 4350 Varmahliacuteeth Hoacutetel Varmahliacuteeth siacutemi 453 8170 Sauethaacuterkroacutekur Verslun Haraldar Juacuteliacuteussonar siacutemi 453 5124 Akureyri Umferetharmiethstoumlethin Hafnarstraeligti 82


siacutemar 462 4442 amp 462 4729

Viethkomustaethir og brottfarartiacutemar Aacuterdegisferethir Kl FRAacute TIL KL 0800 Reykjaviacutek 16000900 thornyrill Hvalfirethi 14550915 Akranesvegamoacutet 14400945 Borgarnes 14201010 Bifroumlst 13551045 Bruacute 13201120 Staetharskaacuteli 13151140 Norethurbraut 12251230 Bloumlnduoacutes 11351320 Varmahliacuteeth 10451430 Akureyri 0930 TIL FRAacute

Siacuteethdegisferethir Kl FRAacute TIL KL 1700 Reykjaviacutek 23251800 thornyrill Hvalfirethi 22251815 Akranesvegamoacutet 22101845 Borgarnes 21501910 Bifroumlst 21251945 Bruacute 20552015 Staetharskaacuteli 20502035 Norethurbraut 20002125 Bloumlnduoacutes 19102215 Varmahliacuteeth 18202320 Akureyri 1700 TIL FRAacute



Dialogue 2

Exercise 4 Til Hafnar iacute Hornafirethi

You would like to travel from Reykjaviacutek to Houmlfn in Hornafjoumlrethur in the far south-eastern corner of Iceland by coach so that you will see something of the spectacular landscape in southern Iceland in particular Joumlkulsaacuterloacuten (-s n the famous lagoon where the Vatnajoumlkull runs into the sea) You go to the main coach terminal BSIacute in Reykjaviacutek in order to get some travel information Can you fill in the gaps in Icelandic according to the English prompts given in brackets in the following dialogue

AFGR Hver er naeligstur You (1 I am next Good afternoon) ___________ AFGR Goacuteethan dag You (2 I would like to travel to Houmlfn iacute Hornafjoumlrethur by coach if thatrsquos

possible) ___________ AFGR Jaacute thornaeth er haeliggt Austurleieth fer tvisvar aacute dag You (3 At what time) ___________ AFGR Haacutelf niacuteu aacute morgnana og klukkan fimm aacute kvoumlldin You (4 At what time des the bus arrive in Houmlfn) ___________ AFGR Ef thornuacute fereth fraacute Reykjaviacutek haacutelf niacuteu thornaacute ertu komin til Hafnar klukkan fimm You (5 What does the ticket cost) ___________ AFGR Hann kostar 3965 kr You (6 Does the bus make a stop at Joumlkulsaacuterloacuten) ___________ AFGR Jaacute en huacuten stoppar bara iacute smaacutetiacutema ekki noacutegu lengi til aeth fara iacute skoethunarfereth En

Austurleieth byacuteethur upp aacute seacuterstakar dagsferethir fraacute Houmlfn aacute Vatnajoumlkul og aeth Joumlkulsaacuterloacuteni You (7 I see Is it possible to buy a ticket to Houmlfn now) AFGR Baacuteethar leiethir You (8 No one-way I intend to fly back) AFGR Hvenaeligr aeligtlar thornuacute aeth fara You (9 Tomorrow morning) AFGR 3965 kroacutenur You (10 There you are thank you very much) ___________

Language points

Time of dayweekyear fyrr larr nuacutena rarr seinna iacute morgun larr iacute dagrarr iacute kvoumlldrarr iacute noacutett (in the morning this morning) (today) (this evening) (tonight) fyrir haacutedegi eftir haacutedegi aacuterdegis siacuteethdegis um morguninn seinni partinn iacute gaeligrmorgun iacute fyrramaacutelieth


iacute gaeligr aacute morgun iacute gaeligrkvoumlld annaeth kvoumlldiacute fyrradag hinn daginniacute fyrriviku naeligstu viku iacute fyrra naeligsta aacuter

Prepositions commonly used with adverbial phrases of time fyrir+dat iacute+acc eftir+acc _______ ago for _______ after _______fyrir aacuteri iacute aacuter eftir aacuter a year ago for a year after a year fyrir tveimur doumlgum iacute tvo daga eftir tvo dagatwo days ago for two days after two days

When an adverbial phrase of time is not preceded by a preposition and is not in a subject position it is in the accusative case For example

Hvaeth er lengi verieth aeth fljuacutega til Vestmannaeyja Ruacutemlega 25 miacutenuacutetur Hvaeth ertu buacutein aeth vera lengi aacute Iacuteslandi (Eacuteg (subj) aeligtla aeth vera heacuter

iacute) fjoacutera daga

Exercise 5

Imagine you have travelled to Houmlfn and found accommodation there At breakfast you are planning the day ahead and the following morning as well Here are some suggestions in English including the time of day Can you make them into full Icelandic sentences See if you can add some of your own ideas to the list

1 In the morning walk around (um acc) town 2 After that have a coffee 3 Before noon get information about sightseeing trips to Vatnaj oumlkull and Joumlkulsaacuterloacuten 4 At (iacute dat) noon lunch (haacutedegismatur m) 5 Afternoon take a look at the museum 6 Tomorrow morning go on (iacute) sightseeing trip 7 Tomorrow evening take a coach to Egilsstaethir (mpl) 8 hellip

Dialogue 3

Iacute straeligtoacute

Joyce has been sightseeing all day in Reykjaviacutek and gone for a refreshing swim afterwards in the magnificent swimming pool in Laugardalur She feels too tired to do


any more walking and decides to hop on a bus back to her guest house She finds a bus stop nearby and asks a waiting bystander for information

JOYCEAfsakieth getur thornuacute sagt meacuter hvernig eacuteg kemst heacuteethan iacute miethbaeliginn MAethURMeeth thornviacute aeth taka fimmuna Huacuten fer niethur iacute baelig og stoppar vieth Hlemm og

Laeligkjartorg JOYCE Hvenaeligr er huacuten vaeligntanleg MAethURReacutett fyrir sex Huacuten hlyacutetur aeth koma braacuteethum Eacuteg er aeth biacuteetha eftir henni JOYCE Hvaeth kostar iacute vagninn MAethUR120 kroacutenur farieth ef thornuacute ert ekki meeth farmietha eetha graeligna kortieth JOYCE Eacuteg er ekki meeth kort eetha mietha eacuteg hef aldrei farieth meeth straeligtisvagni heacuter aacuteethur MAethUR Nuacutejaacute Aacutettu smaacutemynt THORNuacute verethur aeth staethgreietha og vagnstjoacuterinn gefur ekki til

baka JOYCE Jaacute eacuteg held thornaeth En er haeliggt aeth skipta yfir iacute annan vagn aacuten thorness aeth borga aftur

Eacuteg gisti aacute Rauetharaacutersstig og eacuteg er svo thornreytt aeth eacuteg nenni ekki aeth ganga thornangaeth fraacute Hlemmi

MAethUR THORNaacute biethur thornuacute vagnstjoacuterann um skiptimietha thornegar thornuacute kemur upp iacute vagninn og vieth Hlemm skiptir thornuacute svo yfir iacute vagn nuacutemer sex sem fer aeth Breiethholtskjoumlri Hann stoppar vieth Rauetharaacutersstig

JOYCE THORNakka thorneacuter kaeligrlega fyrir Jaeligja thornarna kemur vagninn

Vocabulary notes straeligtisvagn (-s -ar)straeligtoacute

city bus (Although the form of the popular abbreviation straeligtoacute would suggest the neuter gender the underlying reference to the masculine noun vagn prevents it from being treated as a neuter noun As a result straeligtoacute is only used in this form When its position in the sentence demands a change for instance a definite article or a plural form the word straeligtisvagn or just vagn is used instead)

fimma (-u) f lsquothe fiversquo (ie bus number five Buses 2ndash5 are generally referred to with the following nouns based on their numbers tvistur thornristur fjarki fimma Other busesroutes are referred to as vagn nuacutemerhellipor leiethhellip)

biacuteetha (biacuteeth) eftir dat

wait for

hvaeth kostar iacute vagninn

how much does it cost to get on the bus

graeligna kortieth lsquothe green cardrsquo (monthly bus pass) smaacutemynt (-ar -ir)

change

staethgreietha (greiethi) acc

to pay cash

gefa til baka give change eacuteg held thornaeth I think so skipta yfir iacute annan vagn

change buses

aacuten thorness aeth without biethja (bieth) um acc

ask for


vagnstjoacuteri (-a -ar)

bus driver

skiptimiethi (-a -ar)

transfer ticket

koma upp iacute vagninn

get onto the bus

Exercise 6

Look at the pages from the Leiethaboacutek Straeligtisvagna Reykjaviacutekur (SVR) on p 115 and see if you can answer the following questions

1 If it takes Joyce about 10 minutes to get from Laugardalur to Hlemmur at what time could she catch the next number 6 given that itrsquos a weekday

2 What if it were a Saturday

3 When would be the earliest Joyce could get to Laeligkjartorg by bus from her guest house on Rauetharaacuterstiacutegur on a Sunday morning

4 How much would it cost Joyce to get a green card

5 How much money would she save per ride if she got a spjald rather than pay cash for her fares

6 How much would it cost to take a bus back after a night out on the town

Vocabulary notes frestur (-s) m interval everyhellip akstur (-s) m drive (from aka (ek oacutek oacuteku ekieth) dat drive)

Exercise 7

Answer the following questions in complete Icelandic sentences

1 Hvert fer vagn nuacutemer sex

2 Stoppar hann aacute Laugavegi

3 Hvaeth kostar farieth

4 Hvaeth gerir thornuacute ef thornuacute verethur aeth skipta aacute leiethinni

5 Hvaeth segir thornuacute vieth vagnstjoacuterann ef thornuacute thornarft skiptimietha


6 Fereth thornuacute oft meeth straeligtisvagni Hvaetha vagn tekur thornuacute

7 Hvaeth kostar iacute vagninn thornar sem thornuacute aacutett heima

8 Er haeliggt aeth kaupa kort thornar Ef svo er hvaeth kostar thornaeth

Language points

Personal pronoun declensions

As the function of a pronoun is to replace a noun so it too changes form according to its position in the sentence These are the case forms for the personal pronouns in Icelandic

1st person 2nd person 3rd person Masculine Feminine Neutersg nom eacuteg thornuacute hann huacuten thornaeth acc mig thornig hann hana thornaeth dat meacuter thorneacuter honum henni thornviacute gen miacuten thorniacuten hans hennar thorness pl nom vieth thornieth thorneir thornaeligr thornau acc okkur ykkur thornaacute thornaeligr thornau

dat okkur ykkur thorneim gen okkar ykkar thorneirra


Examples

Hvenaeligr kemur fimman Huacuten kemur braacuteethum Eacuteg er aeth biacuteetha eftir (dat) henni

Vieth aeligtlum iacute biacuteoacute Nennieth thornieth aeth koma meeth (dat) okkur

Exercise 8

Replace the italicized nouns in the following sentences with the appropriate personal pronouns Remember to check which number and gender (whatwhom does it refer to) and which case form (what is its position in the sentence) to use

1 Eacuteg truacutei soumlgunni Eacuteg truacutei______ 2 Flugin eru sein ______ 3 Konurnar skoetha biacutelana ______ 4 Barnieth fer til moumlmmu ______ 5 Straacutekarnir taka ruacutetuna ______

Exercise 9

Read the following text and fill in the gaps with the correct forms of the appropriate personal pronouns Take care to note what noun(s) each pronoun refers to in order to determine its number and gender (remember a combination of different genders makes a neuter plural) Looking at the forms of adjectives in the same sentence can also be helpful

Peacutetur er aeth skoetha myndir iacute fjoumllskyldu-albuacutemi _____ eru gamlar gular og skemmtilegar Heacuterna er mynd af moumlmmu fraacute 1970 ______ er hippaleg meeth siacutett haacuter ______ er liacuteka meeth ofsa stoacuter gleraugu _____ eru faacuteranleg Heacuterna kemur mynd af pabba _____ er liacuteka meeth siacutett haacuter og _____ er iacute uacutetviethum buxum _____ eru liacuteka svakalega hlaeliggilegar Heacuter er mynd af hjoacutenunum thornegar _____ eru gift Og heacuterna er mynd af fyrsta barninu systur Peacuteturs _____ er liacutetil og raueth og krumpueth Og thornarna er Peacutetur sjaacutelfur _____ er ofsalega saeligtur THORNaeth er liacuteka mynd af Peacutetri og litla broacuteethur hans thornegar _____ eru 5 og 3 aacutera gamlir Svo er stoacuter mynd af Peacutetri og systkinum _____ eru oumlll iacute sparifoumltunum Loksins kemur mynd af allri fjoumllskyl-dunni thornegar _____ er iacute friacutei iacute Frakklandi

Vocabulary notes hippalegur adj hippi-ish like uacutetviethar buxur bell-bottoms a hippy krumpaethur adj wrinkled hlaeliggilegur adj ridiculous funny


Expressions of necessity and future intention

The following verbal constructions express different degrees of necessity in Icelandic eiga aeth+infinitive lsquohave torsquo (because someone else says so implied authority) hljoacuteta aeth+infinitive

lsquomustrsquo (because it is inevitable)

veretha aeth+infinitive

lsquohave torsquo lsquomustrsquo (because it is unavoidable)

thornurfa aeth+infinitive

lsquoneed torsquo (like veretha aeth but weaker not completely unavoidable but preferable nevertheless)

Examples

Michael verethur aeth flyacuteta seacuter (hurry) af thornviacute aeth hann aacute aeth maeligta aacute flugvoumlllinn klukkan haacutelf sjouml

Eacuteg vereth aeth flyacuteta meacuter annars missi eacuteg af straeligtoacute Eacuteg thornarf aeth flyacuteta meacuter af thornviacute aeth thornaeth er svo mikieth aeth gera THORNetta hlyacutetur aeth vera broacuteethir thorninn thornieth erueth svo liacutek

Icelandic has no special verbs to indicate future tense like English lsquowillrsquo Instead the simple present is used to express both present and future The context usually makes clear whether a future tense is implied

Hann fer aacute morgun He will leave tomorrowEacuteg gleymi thorneacuter aldrei I will never forget you

A notable exception is vera which becomes veretha in the future tense

Verethur thornuacute heima aacute morgun Will you be home tomorrow

The verb phrases aeligtla aeth and fara aeth however are often used to express a future intention AEligtla emphasizes the intention as we saw earlier while fara emphasizes an action that is about to take place

Eacuteg fer aeth kaupa mietha I am going to buy a ticket Hann fer aeth horfa aacute sjoacutenvarpieth He is going toabout to watch television

Reading 1

Uacutetvarp og sjoacutenvarp aacute Iacuteslandi

What is the most popular radio programme What kind of television programmes are in the majority Do state radio and television have a monopoly

Uacutetvarpsstoumleth Iacuteslands koumlllueth Riacutekisuacutetvarpieth (RUacuteV) siacuteethan 1934 var stofnueth aacuterieth 1928 Siacuteethan 1983 rekur RUacuteV tvaeligr raacutesir Raacutes 1 og Raacutes 2 Raacutes 1 fer meeth fjoumllbreytta dagskraacute sem


leggur aacuteherslu a freacutettir menntun og toacutenlist og iacuteslenskt efni Raacutes 2 er iacute loftinu allan soacutelarhringinn og fer aethallega meeth daeliggurtoacutenlist og samtalsthornaeligtti fyrir almenning Aethalfreacutettirnar aacute baacuteethum raacutesum eru haacutedegisfreacutettir kl 12 og kvoumlldfreacutettir kl 7 og njoacuteta thornaeligr mestu vinsaeliglda iacute uacutetvarpinu Upphaflega aacutetti RUacuteV einkaleyfi en siacuteethan uacutetvarps- og sjoacutenvarpsbylgjur voru gefnar frjaacutelsar aacuterieth 1985 hafa yacutemsar einkastoumlethvar verieth stofnaethar Margar thorneirra uacutetvarpa aetheins aacute houmlfuethborgarsvaeligethinu

Fyrstu sjoacutenvarpsuacutetsendingar aacute Iacuteslandi komu fraacute bandariacutesku herstoumlethinni iacute Keflaviacutek Aacuterieth 1966 var sjoacutenvarpaeth aacute iacuteslensku iacute fyrsta skipti thornegar Riacutekissjoacutenvarpsstoumleth eetha Sjoacutenvarpieth hoacutef starfsemi Dagskraacutein var stutt iacute mjoumlg langan tiacutema 4ndash5 klukkutiacutema aacute kvoumlldin og ekki sjoacutenvarpaeth aacute fimmtudoumlgum Nuacute aacute doumlgum er auk Sjoacutenvarpsins Stoumleth 2 einkastoumleth sem maethur verethur aeth borga fyrirVegna peningaskorts er meirihluti dagskraacuter erlent efni mest fraacute Bretlandi og Bandariacutekjunum og syacutent meeth iacuteslenskum texta barnaefni er meeth iacuteslensku tali Helstu nyacuteju stoumlethvarnar sem sjoacutenvarpaeth hafa siacuteethan 1995 eru Syacuten Biacuteoacuteraacutesin og Skjaacuter 1 Aethalefnieth aacute dagskraacute aethalsjoacuten-varpsstoumlethvanna eru freacutettir kl 7 (lsquoFreacutettirrsquo iacute Sjoacutenvarpinu og lsquo19gt20rsquo aacute Stoumleth 2)

Vocabulary notes uacutetvarp (-s -) radio (broadcast) njoacuteta (nyacutet) gen enjoy uacutetvarpa (uacutetvarpa) (radio) broadcast einkaleyfi (-s -) monopoly sjoacutenvarp (-s -) television bylgja (-u -ur) wave sjoacutenvarpa (sjoacutenvarpa) televise einkastoumleth (-var -

var) private (commercial)

fjoumllbreyttur adj varied station dagskraacute (-r -r) f daily programme uacutetsending (-ar -ar) broadcast leggja aacuteherslu aacute emphasize nuacute aacute doumlgum nowadays acc peningaskortur lack of money freacutettir fpl news (-s) m menntun (-ar -ir) culture education meirihluti (-a -ar) majority daeliggurtoacutenlist (-ar) f popular music texti (-a -ar) text (here

lsquosubtitlesrsquo) samtalsthornaacutettuacuter (-ar thornaeligttir) m chat show meeth iacuteslensku tali dubbed in Icelandic almenninguacute (-s) fyrir almenning

general public popular

helst advsuperl most prominent

The Icelandic word for a film is mynd (-ar -ir) f from kvikmynd lsquomoving picturersquo Films can be biacuteoacutemyndir or sjoacutenvarpsmyndir A television programme is generally referred to as a thornaacutettur and a TV series as a myndaflokkur

Exercise 10

There are many genres of films and television shows Can you guess what genre the following refer to The Icelandic television programme on p 121 and the examples in brackets provide clues to help you


1 Gamanmynd (Monty Python) 2 Teiknimynd (The Simpsons) 3 Heimildarmynd (National Geographic) 4 Vestri (John Wayne) 5 Spennumynd (Hitchcock Bruce Willis)6 Sakamaacutelamynd (Sherlock Holmes) 7 Stoacutermynd (Ben Hur Titanic) 8 Hryllingsmynd (Friday the 13th)

Exercise 11

Carefully study the TV programme opposite Can you find Icelandic wordsterms that correspond to the following

1 Main roles (in the lead roles) 2 Translator and narrator (translated and narrated by) 3 A musical 4 Nominated for an Oscar 5 Direct (live) broadcast 6 Programme for children and young people

Exercise 12

Now answer the following questions in Icelandic

1 Klukkan hvaeth byrjar dagskraacute iacute Sjoacutenvarpinu

2 Er sakamaacutelamynd eetha spennumynd aacute dagskraacute

3 Klukkan hvaeth byrja fyrstu freacutettir kvoumlldins

4 Klukkan hvaeth er dagskraacutein buacutein aacute Stoumleth 2

5 Fraacute hvaetha landi kemur heimildarmyndin lsquoPiacutelagriacutemsfereth til Mekkarsquo

6 Hvaeth eru margir erlendir thornaeligttir syacutendir iacute Sjoacutenvarpinu

7 Hvaeth er uppaacutehaldssjoacutenvarpsthornaacutetturinn thorninn



7 Daglegt liacutef

Daily life In this lesson you will learn about

bull aspects of daily life in Iceland bull the simple present conjugation of strong verbsbull vowel change the I-shift bull more about prepositions and their cases bull customs and holidays

Reading 1

Dagur iacute liacutefi iacuteslenskrar fjoumllskyldu

How many children do Joacuten and Sigriacuteethur have together How many individuals make up their family Where do Joacuten and Sigriacuteethur work Who dresses the children in the morning Who does the cooking

Joacuten Greacutetarsson og Sigriacuteethur Oacutelafsdoacutettir eiga heima iacute Koacutepavogi sem er reacutett hjaacute Reykjaviacutek THORNau buacutea iacute stoacuterri iacutebuacuteeth iacute blokk og eiga saman doacutetturina Houmlllu Sigriacuteethur er fraacuteskilin og aacute liacuteka Aacutesgeir af fyrra hjoacutenabandi og Joacuten aacute Einar fraacute fyrra sambandi Straacutekarnir buacutea hjaacute thorneim Sigriacuteethur er deildarstjoacuteri hjaacute Iacuteslandsbanka og Joacuten er treacutesmiethur en er nuacute heimavinnandi huacutesfaethir

Dagurinn hefst aacute thornviacute aeth Joacuten og Sigriacuteethur vakna og fara aacute faeligtur kl 7 og meethan Sigriacuteethur fer iacute sturtu og klaeligethir sig vekur Joacuten krakkana og gefur thorneim morgunmatinn iacute eldhuacutesinu og laeligtur thornaacute taka lyacutesieth Hann lagar liacuteka kaffi handa thorneim hjoacutenunum Aacuteethur en Sigriacuteethur fer iacute vinnu hjaacutelpar huacuten Joacuteni aeth klaeligetha boumlrnin Eftir aeth Sigriacuteethur er farin fara Joacuten og krakkarnir iacute goumlngufereth Iacute haacutedeginu borethar fjoumllskyldan samlokur vieth eldhuacutesborethieth og hlustar aacute haacutedegisfreacutettir Svo kemur tiacutemi til aeth fara meeth krakkana iacute leikskoacutelann Joacuten fer aftur heim tekur til ryksugar og kaupir iacute matinn

Sigriacuteethur er mjoumlg upptekin iacute vinnunni Dagurinn er stiacutefboacutekaethur og huacuten er stoumlethugt a fundum en huacuten er samt mjoumlg aacutenaeliggeth iacute vinnunni Vinnufeacutelagarnir eru hressir og skemmtilegir og thornau hittast iacute kaffinu eetha boretha saman haacutedegismat thornegar taeligkifaeligri gefst

THORNegar Sigriacuteethur kemur heim kl 7 eftir langan vinnudag er Joacuten buacuteinn aeth elda matinn og huacuten fer beint aeth kvoumlldmatarborethi Fjoumllskyldan spjallar samanmdashkrakkarnir segja fraacute thornviacute sem thorneir gerethu iacute skoacutela iacute dag Svo thornakka thorneir fyrir matinn (thornakka fyrir sig) og fara uacutet aeth leika seacuter eetha gera heimaverkefni fyrir morgundaginn Sigriacuteethur ber fram af borethinu vaskar upp og bryacutetur saman thornvottinn aacute meethan Joacuten horfir aacute freacutettirnar iacute sjoacutenvarpinu Siacuteethan bjoacuteetha allir goacuteetha noacutett og haacutetta

Vocabulary notes fraacuteskilinn adj divorced samloka (-u -ur) sandwich blokk (-ar -ir) block of flats leikskoacuteli (-a -ar) kindergarten apartment taka til clean up building ryksuga (ryksuga) vacuum hooverdeildarstjoacuteri branch manager kaupa (kaupi) buy groceries (-a -ar) department iacute mat head fundur (-ar -ir) meeting fara aacute faeligtur get up (out of fara aacute fund go to a meeting bed) vera aacute fundi be in a meeting fara iacute sturtu have a heimaverkefni homework (from shower (-s -) verkefni lsquotaskrsquo laacuteta (laeligt) acc let lsquoprojectrsquo lyacutesi (-s) n fish liver oil lsquoassignmentrsquo) (traditionally bera (ber) fram clear the table taken at af borethnu breakfast esp vaska (vaska) do the dishes by young upp children in brjoacuteta (bryacutet) fold liquid form or saman acc capsules thornvottur (-s -ar) laundry (lyacutesisperlur)) haacutetta (haacutetta) go to bed

Language points

Simple present conjugation of strong verbs

Most so-called -ur verbs discussed in Lesson 2 as well as a number of other verbs are strong verbs Strong verbs like weak ones (that is those belonging to the -a and -i groups and most of those with a -j before the infinitive final -a) can be divided into three subgroups based on their conjugation patterns Here too the patterns are distinguished by the singular conjugations only the plural conjugation is always the same The following are the three conjugation patterns for strong verbs in the simple present tense

1 The first group generally corresponds to the -ur pattern outlined in Lesson 2 and is by far the largest

biacuteeth-a vinn-a tak-aeacuteg bieth- vinn- tek- thornuacute biacuteeth-ur vinn-ur tek-urhann biacuteeth-ur vinn-ur tek-ur

2 The second group consists of verbs whose stem ends in a vowel-many of them do not have the infinitive final -a

Daglegt liacutef 105

faacute sjaacute buacute-aeacuteg faelig- seacute- byacute- thornuacute faelig-reth seacute-reth byacute-reththornaeth faelig-r seacute-r byacute-r

3 The last group includes verbs of which the stem ends in -r or -s Note how the ending of the second-person singular is a -t rather than a -eth when the stem ends in -s

far-a les-a ber-aeacuteg fer- les- ber- thornuacute fer-eth les-t ber-ethhann fer- les- ber-

Now of course you would like to know how you can tell a weak verb from a strong one If you happen to encounter it in a singular conjugated form you should be able to recognize its conjugation pattern or you may remember having encountered it before Generally however as with so many other aspects of Icelandic you have to learn through practice As always the vocabulary notes and glossary list will help you along by including the first person singular form so that you can derive the conjugation pattern on your own

What most distinguishes a strong verb from a weak one is the likely occurrence of a change in the stem vowel of the verb Many strong verbs are subject to the influence of the so-called I-shift in the singular present the result of an -iacute or -j that once occurred in the ending but has since been lost

The I-shift

The I-shift involves the following vowel changes a changes to e as in takamdashtek faramdashfero changes to e as in komamdashkem aacute changes to aelig as in faacutemdashfaelig uacute buacuteamdashbyacute juacute change to yacute as in fljuacutegamdashflyacuteg joacute

brjoacuteta-bryacutet

au changes to ey as in aukamdasheyk (increase)

Whenever the infinitive of a strong verb has one of the vowels listed on the left it will change into the vowel on the right in the singular present conjugation Note that the I-shift never occurs in the plural The influence of the I-shift extends far beyond the realm of present tense verb conjugation so it is important to begin familiarizing yourself with it now It will make what lies ahead much easier


Exercise 1

Put the strong verbs in brackets into the sentences in their correct present tense form Remember that a vowel change may occur

1 THORNuacute ______ (Veretha) blaut ef thornuacute ______ (standa) iacute rigningunni 2 Pabbi ______ (skera) brauethieth iacute eldb thornuacutesinu 3 Hvert ______ (fara) thornuacute Eacuteg ______ (fljuacutega) til Vestmannaeyjabaacute morgun 4 Fjoumllskyldan ______ (buacutea) iacute Koacutepavogi 5 Eacuteg ______ (faacute) meacuter kaffisopa iacute vinnunni 6 Boumlrnin ______ (sofa) uppi iacute ruacuteminu en mamma ______ (sofa) iacute stoacutelnum vieth sjoacutenvarpieth 7 Huacuten ______ (bjoacuteetha) goacuteetha noacutett 8 ______ (ganga) thornieth upp aacute joumlkulinn Jaacute vieth (ganga) upp joumlkulinn en thornuacute Nei eacuteg

______ (ganga) ekki eacuteg ______ (aka) iacute staethinn

Exercise 2

The following are some of the things Einar does on an ordinary work day The verbs are all in the infinitive Can you turn them into sentences using Einar (or lsquohersquo) as a subject Note that in this exercise not all verbs are strong

Daeligmi 1 Vakna kl 6rarrEinar vaknar klukkan sex

2 Fara aacute faeligtur kl 715 3 Boretha morgunmat og drekka kaffi klaeligetha sig 4 Taka straeligtoacute iacute vinnu 5 Vinna aacute skrifstofu 6 Ganga iacute buacuteeth og faacute seacuter samloku kl 12 7 Fara aacute fund eftir haacutedegi sjaacute um matarinnkaup 8 Koma heim kl 7 9 Elda matinn og horfa aacute freacutettir 10 Taka til og lesa yfir skjoumll (lsquodocumentsrsquo lsquofilesrsquo) 11 Haacutetta kl 1130 12 Sofa eins og steinn alla noacutettinahellip

Now rewrite the sentences as if you were doing all these things

Daeligmi 1 Eacuteg vakna klukkan sexhellip

Can you adapt the sentences to reflect some of the things that you do on an ordinary working day There are of course no set answers to this as the answers depend on you

Exercise 3

Hulda has been telling you about herself Can you tell someone else what she said ie rewrite her words so that you are talking about her in the third person You will need to change the endings of the verbs from the lsquoIrsquo to the lsquoshersquo form


Daeligmi Eacuteg heiti (1) HuldararrHuacuten heitir Hulda

Eacuteg er (2) boacutekhaldari og rek (3) stoacutert hrossasoumllufyrirtaeligki Eacuteg seacute (4) um soumllu og uacutetflutning aacute hrossum Eacuteg byacute (5) aacute Laugarvatni og aacute (6) 30 hross Eacuteg nyacutet (7 inf njoacuteta) thorness aeth rietha uacutet iacute naacutettuacuterunni Eacuteg faelig (8) marga uacutetlendinga hingaeth til aeth skoetha og kaupa iacuteslenska hesta Eacuteg vakna (9) snemma aacute morgnana og vinn (11) vieth boacutekhaldieth og svo fer (11) eacuteg uacutet til aeth sjaacute um hestana Oftast kem (12) eacuteg ekki heim fyrr en seint aacute kvoumlldin

hross (- -) n also hestur (-s -ar) m horse

Simple present versus vera aeth

Now that you have met all the main conjugation patterns for the simple present tense you no longer need to rely on the construction vera aeth (+inf) to use verbs in sentences In fact there is a difference between the use of the simple present and that of the vera aeth construction one that resembles the difference between the simple present and the present continuous in English in many ways

bull The simple present is used in Icelandic to indicate a general situation or to indicate that the activity expressed by the verb takes place on a regular basis

eacuteg drekk alltaf kaffi aacute morgnana I always drink coffee in the mornings huacuten vaknar sjaldan fyrir kl 8 she seldom wakes up before 8 orsquoclock thornau boretha aldrei iacute haacutedeginu they never eat lunch (lit lsquoat noonrsquo)

bull vera aeth plus infinitive is used to indicate an activity that is happening right now and is of temporary duration

eacuteg er aeth drekka morgunkaffieth nuacutena Irsquom drinking my morning coffee now eacuteg er aeth vinna iacute bili Irsquom working at the moment

It is also commonly used in combination with verbs indicating an activity that only lasts a brief moment such as sofna lsquofall asleeprsquo detta lsquofallrsquo fara and koma often in combination with the adverb alveg In those instances the combination with vera aeth indicates that the acitivity is just about to happen

hann er aeth koma he is on his way eacuteg er alveg aeth sofna Irsquom about to fall asleep


Because the construction with vera aeth emphasizes temporary action it is not possible to use it in Icelandic in combination with verbs denoting a situation rather than an activity such as vera sitja liggja etc This means for instance that English lsquohe is sittingrsquo cannot be translated into Icelandic as hann er aeth sitja it should be hann situr

Dialogue 1

Samtal vieth nyacutebuacutea

On his way home to Iceland from a conference Einar Gunnarsson initiates a conversation with Hilton Peters from the Turk Islands who is sitting next to him on the plane Where in Iceland does Hilton live What does he like about Iceland What doesnrsquot he like How does he get along with Icelanders

EINAR Ertu aeth fara til Iacuteslands iacute fyrsta sinn HILTON Nei eacuteg er reyndar aacute leiethinni heim EINAR THORNuacute byacutereth aacute Iacuteslandi HILTON Jaacute siacuteethan 1996 Eacuteg vinn iacute fiski aacute Iacutesafirethi EINAR Nuacute er thornaeth Og hvernig liacutekar thorneacuter HILTON Eacuteg kann mjoumlg vel vieth mig aacute Iacuteslandi Seacuterstaklega thornegar thornaeth er hlyacutett Eacuteg reyni aeth

ferethast og sjaacute eins mikieth af landinu og eacuteg get Naacutettuacuteran er alveg einstoumlk og thornaeth er haeliggt aeth gera skemmtilega hluti aacute sama staeth

EINAR Eins og HILTON Til daeligmis aeth fara aacute skiacuteethi aacute Snaeligfellsjoumlkli og svo iacute soacutelbaeth aacute stroumlndinni aacute eftir

eetha aeth fara iacute sund thornegar thornaeth er snjoacuter og frost Loftieth heacuter er liacuteka alveg fraacutebaeligrt EINAR Og hvaeth um foacutelkieth hvernig kanntu vieth Iacuteslendinga HILTON Aacutegaeligtlega Iacuteslendingar eru mjoumlg hjaacutelpsamir og hafa tekieth meacuter vel THORNaeth kemur

manni reyndar svoliacutetieth aacute oacutevart thornviacute Iacutesland er liacutetieth land liacutetieth samfeacutelag En Iacuteslendingar koma vel fram vieth mig vinnufeacutelagar og aethrir liacuteka

EINAR Var ekki erfitt aeth kynnast foacutelki svona til aeth byrja meeth HILTON Jaacute svoliacutetieth thornegar maethur skilur ekki tungumaacutelieth er stundum erfitt aeth komast iacute

samband vieth foacutelk og svo gleymir foacutelkieth stundum aeth maethur skilur ekki en thornetta er eethlilegt svona fyrst iacute staeth byacutest eacuteg vieth

EINAR En eru Iacuteslendingar ekki frekar lokaethir aeth thorniacutenu mati HILTON Til aeth byrja meeth kannski en thornaeth lagast fljoacutetlega seacuterstak-lega thornegar maethur fer

uacutet aeth skemmta seacuter meeth Iacuteslen-dingum THORNaacute losnar foacutelkieth vieth feimni verethur sama um allt og hugsar bara um aeth skemmta seacuter THORNaeth liacutekar meacuter vel vieth lifa fyrir augnablikieth og njoacuteta thorness sem mest

EINAR En thornaeth hlyacutetur aeth vera eitthvaeth sem thorneacuter mislikar HILTON THORNaeth er alltof kalt og dimmt aacute veturna En thornoacute eacuteg er alltaf hissa hvaeth thornaeth er

mikieth fjoumlr og feacutelagsliacutef einmitt thornaacute THORNaeth er alltaf eitthvaeth aeth gerast EINAR Ekkert annaeth


HILTON Ef til vill thornaeth hvaeth er dyacutert aeth buacutea aacute Iacuteslandi En thornar sem eacuteg by uacutet aacute landi er maethur oacutesjaacutelfraacutett sparsamur thornviacute aeth thornaeth er ekki haeliggt aeth kaupa mikieth En thornaeth eru liacuteka margir kostir vieth aeth buacutea aacute Iacuteslandi Eacuteg er bara mjoumlg aacutenaeliggethur aeth buacutea heacuter

Vocabulary notes nyacutebuacutei (-a -ar) immigrant to Iceland vinna iacute fiski work in the fishing industry kunna (kann kannt kann) velilla vieth acc likedislike hlutur (-ar -ir) thing hafa tekieth meacuter vel have made me welcome koma aacute oacutevart surprise (thornaeth kemur manni aacute oacutevart lsquoit is

surprisingrsquo) samfeacutelag (-s -) society koma fram behave come across fyrst iacute staeth at first aeth thorniacutenu mati in your estimationopinion lagast (lagast) get better skemmta seacuter have fun have a good time party feimni findecl shyness timidity losna (losna) vieth acc lose get rid of vera sama not care meacuter er sama I donrsquot care fjoumlr (-s) n vitality fun oacutesjaacutelfraacuteethur adj involutary unintentional sparsamur adj economical thrifty feacutelagsliacutef (-s) n social life social activity kostur (-ar -ir) advantage

Language points

Prepositions and their cases

In the previous chapters you have learned that in Icelandic prepositions like verbs determine the case of their object(s) Prepositions are among the trickiest aspects of a language to learn their usage being often a matter of idiom The translation of a preposition is therefore usually only tentative For instance the preposition um generally translates into lsquoaboutrsquo as in

Hann talar um ferethina He speaks about the trip

However in combination with the verb sjaacute the translation changes Eacuteg seacute um fyrirtaeligkieth I look after the company

Similarly one may live lsquoinrsquo (iacute) or lsquoonrsquo (aacute) a place in Icelandic


THORNuacute byacutereth aacute Iacuteslandi but Eacuteg byacute iacute Englandi Hann aacute heima aacute Huacutesaviacutek but Huacuten aacute heima iacute Reykjaviacutek

Using the correct preposition is something that is learned through extensive practice Using the correct case form after a preposition on the other hand is something that can be more easily charted at least to begin with What follows are the most common prepositions in Icelandic listed by the case they govern

acc dat gen um about aeth towards til to gegnum through fraacute from aacuten without kringum around af off auk in additionvieth at against hjaacute beside by with apart from uacuter out of milli between handa for vegna because of aacute moacuteti opposite due to undan from under naacutelaeliggt near

These are all prepositions that govern one particular case There is also a group of prepositions that govern two cases accusative or dative usually depending on

1 whether the preposition refers to location (place) or time 2 whether in the case of location the preposition refers to a static (unchanging) situation

or whether a motion with direction (change) is implied

Prepositions of place

The prepositions aacute lsquoonrsquo iacute lsquoinrsquo undir lsquounderrsquo and yfir lsquooverrsquo all govern a dative when they are used in a context which implies a static or unchanging situation something that is often indicated by the verb

Examples Eacuteg byacute aacute Laugavegi I live on Laugavegur Hann er iacute friacuteiiacute nyacuterri peysu He is on holidayswears a new sweaterHundurinn liggur undir borethinu The dog lies under the table Myndin hangir yfir stoacutelnum The picture hangs over the chair

In all of these sentences the situation depicted is static as the verbs lsquoliversquo lsquobersquo lsquoliersquo lsquohangrsquo indicate Compare these examples with the following

Hann fer iacute friacuteiacute nyacuteja peysu He is going on holidayputting on a new sweater Huacuten setur pokann undir borethieth She puts the bag under the table Hann hengir myndina yfir stoacutelinn He hangs the picture over the chair


These sentences all imply a motion which causes a change in situation from working to being on holiday from not wearing a sweater to wearing one etc This difference is reflected by the difference in case Now study the following sentences

Barnieth skriacuteethur undir ruacuteminu and Barnieth skriacuteethur undir ruacutemieth

The difference in case implies that the sentences have a different meaning In the first instance the child is crawling around under the bed not going anywhere in particular an unchanging situation captured by the dative case ruacuteminu In the second sentence the child is crawling from one location to another ending up under the bed This change in situation is reflected by the accusative ruacutemieth

Finally note that in Icelandic the following prepositions form pairs of opposite movement but do not follow the same case rules

iacute into datacc harruacuter out of dat aacute onto datacc harr af off dat undir under dataccharrundan from under dat

Prepositions of time

These were briefly introduced in Lesson 6 However it is important to pay specific attention to how these prepositions behave differently when used in a non-temporal or other context

Time Place Other fyrir ago dat in front of dat for acc fyrir thornremur doumlgum tjoumlldin eru fyrir hann gerir thornaeth glugganum fyrir mig iacute for acc ininto datacc mdashmdash iacute thornrjaacute daga huacuten er iacute skoacutelanum mdashmdash huacuten fer iacute skoacutelann eftir after acc behind along dat by acc eftir thornrjaacute daga thornuacute ert eftir meacuter boacutekin er eftir hana eacuteg geng eftir goumltunni

Finally the preposition aacute is a story in itself it can be followed by an accusative and a dative in temporal sentences as well as in sentences of place If something happens on a certain day or time aacute governs the accusative but if it concerns something that always happens on that daythose days it is followed by a dative Compare the following

aacute a certain daytimerarracc repeated event(s)rarrdat eacuteg fer heim aacute sunnudaginn eacuteg fer alltaf heim aacute sunnudoumlgum hann fer iacute friacute aacute foumlstudaginn hann fer iacute sund aacute foumlstudoumlgum aacute hverjum foumlstudegi


Other prepositions ruling more than one case

The preposition meeth lsquowithrsquo is arguably one of the trickiest prepositions for students of Icelandic but because it is so common you will want to start using it so here are some pointers Meeth governs the dative when

bull it implies that the accompanying element is there of their ow agency and free will eacuteg kem meeth thorneacuter Irsquom coming with you

bull it is used in an instrumental sense (as the tool to perform an action) Joacuten smiacuteethar meeth hamri Joacuten builds with a hammer

Meeth is followed by an accusative

bull when control or agency lies with the subject not with the accomp anying element

huacuten kemur meeth hundana shersquos coming with the dogs (ie bringing the dogs along)

bull in many verb combinations such as vera meeth (when it means lsquohaversquo lsquocarryrsquo)

Exercise 4

Put the (pro)nouns in brackets into the following sentences in the correct case forms Remember to assess the gender and number of the (pro)nouns in question

1 Stelpan gengur kringum ________ (huacutesieth) 2 THORNieth farieth til ________ (uacutetloumlnd) 3 THORNau faacute breacutef fraacute ________ (skoacutelinn) 4 Hann er reiethur vieth ________ (eacuteg) 5 Garethurinn er milli ________ (huacutesin) 6 Borethieth stendur aacute ________ (goacutelfieth) 7 Hundurinn kemur undan ________ (borethieth) 8 Hjoacutenin ganga eftir ________ (vegurinn) 9 Boumlrnin gista hjaacute ________ (afi og amma) 10 Eacuteg thornakka fyrir ________ (hjaacutelpin) 11 Fereth thornuacute meeth ________ (hann) iacute biacuteoacute 12 THORNaeth er ekki flogieth vegna ________ (veethur)

Exercise 5

Now see if you can insert the right prepositions Be careful to check that the case each of the objects is in matches the preposition Sometimes you have more than one choice


1 Vieth foumlrum iacute friacute ____ maacutenueth 2 Huacuten stendur ____ thorner 3 Kennarinn situr ____ borethieth ____ stoacutelnum 4 Hann byacuter ____ Bandariacutekjunum 5 AEligtla boumlrnin aeth koma ____ thorneacuter Englands 6 Joacuten fer ____ gallabuxunum og fer ____ jakkafoumltin 7 Eacuteg aeligtla aeth vera aacute Iacuteslandi ____ fjoacutera daga 8 A morgnana skriacuteethur Paacutell ____ ruacuteminu fer ____ eldhuacutesieth tekur glas ____ hillunni (shelf) og mjoacutelk ____ iacutesskaacutepnum (fridge) og drekkur mjoacutelkina Svo setur hann glasieth ____ borethieth og fer ____ baeth Hann syngur lag ____ baethinu kemur svo ____ baethinu og fer ____foumltin Svo fer hann ____ skoacutela ____ straeligtisvagni

Reading 2

Haacutetiacuteethir og merkisdagar aacute Iacuteslandi

Bolludagur var aacuteethur maacutenudagurinn fyrir langafoumlstu Aacute bolludag faeligr folk seacuter bollukaffi og borethar rjoacutemabollur

Sprengidagur var siacuteethasti dagur fyrir byrjun foumlstu THORNaeth er goumlmul venja aeth boretha eins mikieth og haeliggt er af kjoumlti og oumlethru sem bannaeth var aeth boretha a foumlstu Margir boretha saltkjoumlt og baunir a sprengidag Oumlskudagur var fyrsti dagur langafoumlstu og er nuacute friacutedagur aacute Iacuteslandi Paacuteskar THORNaeth eru ekki margar iacuteslenskar venjur sem tengjast paacuteskum fyrir utan kirkjuhaacutetiacuteethina Nuacute aacute doumlgum borethar foacutelk suacutekkulaethiegg (paacuteskaegg) en thornaeth er ekki mjoumlg gamall siacuteethur

Margar aeligvagamlar venjur virethast hins vegar tengjast Sumardeginum fyrsta sem hefur lengi verieth stoacuter haacutetiacuteeth aacute Iacuteslandi THORNaeth var gamall siacuteethur aeth foacutelk faeligrethi sumargjafir Sumardagurinn fyrsti er fyrsti fimmtudagur eftir 18 apriacutel og er enn friacutedagur iacute dag Aacute sumardaginn fyrsta byacuteethur foacutelk gleethilegt sumar

Sjoacutemannadagur er fyrsti sunnudagur iacute juacuteniacute fyrst haldinn haacutetiacuteethlegur iacute 1938 THORNaacute eru margar uacutetihaacutetiethir og sjoacutemenn uacutetgeretharmenn og sjaacutevaruacutetvegsraacuteethherra halda raeligethur

Sautjaacutendi juacuteniacute er thornjoacuteethhaacutetiacuteethardagur Iacuteslendinga Iacutesland vareth lyacuteethveldi 17 juacuteniacute 1944 og aacute sautjaacutenda juacuteniacute er mikil haacutetiacuteeth um allt land THORNaeth er stoacuter samkoma vieth Althorningishuacutesieth aacute Austurvelli iacute Reykjaviacutek thornar sem forseti Islands og forsaeligtisraacuteethherra halda raeligethur og fjallkonan flytur aacutevarp Siacuteethdegis eru margs konar haacutetiacuteethahoumlld

Verslunarmannahelgi er fyrsta helgi iacute aacuteguacutest Maacutenudagurinn er friacutedagur og margir fara iacute skemmtiferethir iacute uacutetilegu og a uacutetihaacutetiethir Joacutelin 23 desember er THORNoacuterlaacuteksmessa Aacute moumlrgum stoumlethum landsins borethar foacutelk skoumltu aacute thornessum degi Foacutelk sker liacuteka laufabraueth seacuterstaklega aacute norethurlandi Aacute aethfangadagskvoumlld 24 desember kl 6 hringja klukkur inn joacutelin THORNaacute boretha menn haacutetiacuteethlega joacutelagrautinn rjuacutepur eetha annan haacutetiacuteethamat og opna svo joacutelagjafirnar Aacute aethfangadag kemur liacuteka siacuteethasti joacutelasveinninn Joacutelasveinarnir eru 13 og koma til baeligja til aeth faeligra boumlrnunum gjafir saacute fyrsti 13 doumlgum fyrir joacutel Svo fara thorneir aftur saacute fyrsti aacute joacuteladag A joacuteladag boretha margir hangikjoumlt og drekka joacutelaoumll og allir klaeligethast sparifoumltunum Ef thornuacute faeligreth ekki nyacuteja fliacutek fyrir joacutel kemur joacutelakoumltturinn og borethar joacutelamatinn og thornig liacuteka ef hann getur

Aacuteramoacutetin eru gamlaacuterskvoumlld og nyacuteaacutersdagur Um noacutettina flytja aacutelfarnir (huldufoacutelkieth) buacuteferlum Nuacute aacute doumlgum eru aacuteramoacutetabrennur aacute gamlaacuterskvoumlld og um miethnaeligtti er liacuteka mikieth af flugeldum THORNrettaacutendinn (prettaacutendakvoumlld) er siacuteethasti dagur joacutela THORNaacute eru aacutelfa-brennur og foacutelk dansar iacute gervi aacutelfa og troumllla iacute kringum eldinn


Vocabulary notes merkisdagur (-s ar) important day holiday langafasta (-u) lent bolla (-u -ur) bun rjoacutemaholla bun filled with whipped cream traditionally eaten on lsquobun dayrsquo saltkjoumlt (-s) n salted meat paacuteskai mpl Easter annar iacute paacuteskumjoacutelum second day of EasterChristmas siethur (-ar -ir) custom aeligvagamall adj ancient faeligrethi past sg faeligra (faeligri) move bring faeligra gjafir bring gifts uacutetgeretharmaethur (manns menn) (fishing) shipowner sjaacutevaruacutetvegur (-s) m fishing industry thornjoacuteethhaacutetiacuteeth (-ar -ir) national day national celebration fjallkona (-u -ur) lit lady of the mountainrsquo national figurehead of Iceland flytja (flyt) acc deliver recite flytja buacuteferlum move house aacutevarp (-s -) address laufabraueth (-s) paper-thin wheatbread carved with decorative patterns and fried

for Christmas skata (-u -ur) skate rjuacutepa (-u -ur) ptarmigan joacutelasveinn (-s -ar) one of the thirteen Icelandic Christmas ladselves hangikjoumlt (-s) smoked lamb joacutelaoumll (-s) n traditional Christmas ale fliacutek (-ar -ur) piece of clothing joacutelakoumlttur (kattar kettir) Christmas cat flugeldar mpl fireworks aacutelfur (-s -ar) also huldufoacutelk (-s) n

elf elfin people lsquohidden peoplersquo

brenna (-u -ur) (bon)fire burning gervi (-s -) costume

Exercise 6 Reacutett eetha rangt

Are the following statements true or false

1 thornaeth er goumlmul venja aeth boretha ekki kjoumlt aacute sprengidag 2 Iacuteslendingar eru iacute friacutei aacute Oumlskudag 3 Iacuteslendingar boretha suacutekkulaethiegg um Paacuteska 4 THORNaeth eru margar aeligvagamlar iacuteslenskar venjur sem tengjast Paacuteskum 5 Sumardagurinn fyrsti er ekki lengur friacutedagur 6 Sjoacutemannadagur er aetheins 60 aacutera gamall 7 THORNaeth er aetheins haldieth upp aacute 17 juacuteniacute aacute houmlfuethborgarsvaeligethinu 8 Margir Iacuteslendingar eru aacute ferethinni um verslunarmannahelgi


9 Aacute norethurlandi sker foacutelkieth laufabraueth 10 Joacutelasveinarnir koma til baeligja meeth joacutelagjafir aacute joacuteladag

Some customary phrases Thanking THORNakka thorneacuter (takk) fyrir matin fyrir migokkur

Thank you for the meal Thank you for havinginviting meus

fyrir siacuteethast Thank you for last (ie last time spent together) fyrir skemmtunina samverunasamvinnuna

Thank you for the entertainment Thank you for the time spent working together

fyrir liethna aacuterieth Thank you for the past year (traditionally added to a New Yearrsquos wish)

Response Verethi thorneacuterykkur aeth goacuteethu approx lsquoMay it be of good to yoursquo (Hostrsquoscookrsquos response to

thank yoursquos also said to invite people (lsquohelp yourselfvesrsquo) and to wish people bon appetit)

Invitation Gakktugangieth iacute baeliginn Please come in Good wishes Gleethilega haacutetiacuteethpaacuteska acc Happy celebrationEaster Gleethileg joacutel acc Merry Christmas Gleethilegt sumar(nyacutett) aacuter acc Happy SummerNew Year

Exercise 7 Dagboacutek

Record in Icelandic your daily activities during one week in your life using the simple present tense There are of course no set answers to this exercisemdashit depends on you

Daeligmi maacutenudagur eacuteg fer aacute faeligtur klukkan sex Eacuteghellip


8 Verethi thorneacuter aeth goacuteethu

Enjoy your meal In this lesson you will learn about

bull buying groceries 1 bull food and taste bull meals and cooking bull impersonal constructions bull expressing likes and dislikes bull indefinite pronouns einhverenginn

Dialogue 1

Iacute matarbuacuteeth

On their way home from work THORNoacuter and Harpa stop off at the grocery shop to buy some food Why are thornoacuter and Harpa not buying any fish What do they decide to have for supper instead What else do they need to pick up

HARPAJaeligja hvaeth eigum vieth aeth hafa iacute matinn iacute kvoumlld THORNOacuteREacuteg veit thornaeth ekki Komum okkur aeth kjoumltborethinu Hvaeth langar thornig iacute Koacutetilettur

kannski Eetha kjoumltbollur HARPA Nei mig langar eiginlega ekki iacute kjoumlt En thornarna eru nyacute yacutesufloumlk THORNOacuteR Houmlfum fisk annaeth kvoumlld thornaeth er svo mikieth vesen aeth elda fisk og thornaeth er orethieth

framorethieth Eacuteg er liacuteka hryllilega svangur Buacuteum til pastareacutett iacute staethinn THORNaeth er thornaeliggilegt oacutedyacutert og fljoacutetlegt

HARPAEigum vieth allt til iacute pastareacutett THORNOacuteR Allt nema toacutematsoacutesu held eacuteg HARPA Eacuteg skal naacute iacute doacutes Okkur vantar liacuteka skyr og braueth Nennirethu aeth taka eina dollu

af rjoacutemaskyri og liacuteka eina fernu af nyacutemjoacutelk thornaacute naelig eacuteg iacute brauethieth THORNOacuteR Ekki gleyma kaffinu thornaeth er allt buacuteieth HARPA Vieth eigum noacuteg af kaffi heima thornaeth er til heill pakki eldhuacutesskaacutepnum THORNOacuteR Nuacute er thornaeth Jaeligja er thornaacute ekki allt komieth HARPA Juacute eacuteg held thornaeth THORNOacuteR Driacutefum okkur heim aeth boretha

Vocabulary notes hafakaupa iacute mat(inn)

havebuy for supper (or lunch or breakfast) (from matur (-ar) lsquofoodrsquo lsquomealrsquo)

kjoumltboreth (-s -) meat counter koacutetiletta (-u -ur) (lamb) chop (Unless specifically indicated otherwise references to meat in

Icelandic tend to be to lamb) kjoumltbolla (-u -ur) meatball yacutesufloumlk from yacutesa (-u -ur) lsquohaddockrsquo and flak (-s -) (fish) lsquofilletrsquo buacutea til acc prepare vesen (-s) n bother fuss svangur adj hungry (pasta)reacutettur (-ar -ir)

(pasta) dish

doacutes (-ar -ir) tin skyr (-s) n a very popular and healthy traditional Icelandic dairy product consisting of

milk curds and often eaten stirred with milk or cream and sugar dolla (-u -ur) pot ferna (-u -ur) carton eldhuacutesskaacutepur (-s -ar)

kitchen cupboard

allt buacuteiethallt komieth

all finishedhave everything

drifum okkur heim

letrsquos hurry home (from driacutefa (driacutef) sig lsquohurry (up)rsquo lsquoget goingrsquo)

Vocabulary connected with food

Matur Kjoumlt (-s) n Fiskur (-s -ar) m lambakjoumlt lamb yacutesa haddock nautakjoumlt beef thornorskur cod sviacutenakjoumlt pork lax (- -ar) m salmon kjuacuteklingur chicken siacuteld f herring fuglakjoumlt poultry raeligkja prawn hvalkjoumlt whale hum-ar (-ars -rar) m lobster Braueth koumlkur og saeligtindi (npl) Korn (-s -) n franskbraueth (-s -) white bread korn grain cornhveiti n flour haframjoumll n oatmeal heilliveitibraueth wholemeal bread hriacutesgrjoacuten npl rice thornriggjakornabraueth granary bread kornmatur cereal snittubraueth baguette (hafra)grautur porridge ruacutenstykki n roll Annaeth


ruacutegbraueth ryebread sykur m sugar baka pie quiche egg n egg terta tart kaka cake smaacutekaka cookie kex n cracker biscuit Graelignmeti (-s) n Aacutevextir baun f pea bean (sg aacutevoumlxtur m) kaacutel n cabbage appeiacutesina orange gulrot (-ar -raeligtur) f carrot epli n apple kartafla potato banani banana laukur onion pera pear hviacutetlaukur garlic siacutetroacutena lemon sveppur (-s -ir) mushroom ferskja peach toacutematur tomato viacutenber n grape guacuterka cucumber blaacuteber blueberry papriacuteka pepper jaretharber strawberry(gul)roacutefa swede ruacutesiacutena raisin salat n lettuce hneta nut Mjoacutelkurmatur Drykkir (sg drykkur m) suacutermjoacutelk kaffi n coffee

soured milk (buttermilk) te n tea

nyacutemjoacutelk (-ur) f fresh milk gos n soft drink leacutettmjoacutelk semi-skimmed vatn n water milk safi (djuacutes n) juice undanrenna skimmed milk bjoacuter m beer joacuteguacutert n yoghurt leacutettviacuten n wine ostur cheese rauethviacuten rjoacutemi cream hviacutetviacuten smjoumlr n butter (sterkt) viacuten alcohol liquor smjoumlrliacuteki n margarine leacutettoumll n light beer Skyndimatur (convenience food) Note the spelling of the names of pylsa wiener hot

dog many imported foods often fluctuates

bjuacutega n sausage between foreign and Icelandic forms hamborgari hamburger Thus it is common to find for franskar (kartoumlflur) fpl

chips instance both pizza and piacutetsa or bacon and beikon n

hakk n minced meat kjoumltfars n sausage meat steik n steak skinka ham

Verethi thorneacuter aeth goacuteethu 119

Matartiacutemar the meals of the day Morgunmatur td ristaeth braueth meeth osti eetha marmelaethi kornmatur hafragrautur

kaffi te eetha mjoacutelk og lyacutesi Haacutedegismatur td skyr smurt braueth braueth meeth aacuteleggi lsquoopen sandwich with luncheon

meat or cheese etcrsquo eetha samloka (Siacuteethdegis)kaffi kaffitiacutemi

kaffisopi lsquocup of coffeersquo og koumlkubiti lsquopiece of cakersquo kaffibraueth kex

Kvoumlldmatur forreacutettur (td suacutepa) aethalreacutettur (kjoumlt eetha fiskur meeth kartoumlflum og graelignmeti) og eftirreacutettur (td iacutes grautur eetha saeligtsuacutepa)

Snarl n lsquosnackrsquo lsquolight mealrsquo Nesti n lsquomeal boxrsquo lsquoprovisions taken to schoolworkon a triprsquo

What case does the preposition meeth rule here

Matargerethmatreiethsla preparing food

Eldabuacutea til mat cooking (a meal) Verb Adjective (ofn) baka bakaethur (oven) baked djuacutepsteikja djuacutepsteiktur deep fried poumlnnusteikja poumlnnusteiktur pan fried sjoacuteetha soethinn cooked boiled grilla grillaethur grilled barbecued reykja reyktur smoked blanda blandaethur mix (ed) hita heat setja (uacutet iacute) add hraeligra stir thorneyta whip krydda spice saxa chop braeligetha melt bera fram - og boretha matinn Verethi peacuter aeth goacuteethu serve

Exercise 1


1 Hvaeth borethar thornuacute iacute morgunmat

2 Hvaeth boretharethu iacute haacutedegismat

3 Tekurethu nesti meeth thorneacuter iacute vinnu eetha boretharethu heima aacute kaffistofuhellip


4 Tekur thornuacute kaffitiacutema

5 Hvaeth boretharethu helst (lsquopreferablyrsquo) aacute kvoumlldin

Language points

Impersonal constructions

Before certain verbs or verb constructions in Icelandic the noun or pronoun that fills the subject position and would normally be in the nominative case will actually be in the dative or accusative One example you have already encountered is hvernig liacutekar thorneacuter where the lsquosubjectrsquo is in the dative form (thorneacuter) rather than the nominative thornuacute As there are no subjects in these impersonal sentences it follows that the verb cannot take its form from them Instead it will always be in the third person singular thorneacuter liacutekar mig langar okkur vantar Most impersonal sentences indicate a state of mind or body Here are some of the most common impersonal expressions

acc+langa iacute long feel likewould like

hana langar iacute fisk she feels like having fish she would like some fish

acc+vanta need vantar thornig siacutetroacutenu do you need a lemon

acc+hrylla vieth shudder at mig hryllir vieth toacutemoumltum I shudder at tomatoes

acc+thornyrsta be thirsty Guethmund thornyrstir Guethmundur is thirsty

acc+dreyma dream mig dreymir oft illa I often have baeth dreams

dat+finnast think find meacuter finnst gaman aeth synda I like swimming

dat+liacuteetha feel honum liacuteethur illa uacutet af thornessu he feels baeth about this

dat+liacutetast aacute like hvernig list thorneacuter aacute thornaeth how do you like it

dat+leiethast be bored barninu leiethist iacute skoacutelanum the child is bored at school

dat+syacutenast seem henni syacutenist thornaeth vera rangt it seems to her that this is wrong

dat+thornykja think find okkur thornykir gott aeth fara uacutet aeth ganga we like going out for a walk

As you can see from the examples above many of the verbs used impersonally take an object There is no relation between the case of these objects and the case of the lsquosubjectrsquo For instance the noun or pronoun preceding hrylla vieth is in the accusative but the object (toacutematar) is in the dative

There are also impersonal constructions which consist of a combination of the verb vera (in the third person singular) finnast or thornykja and an adjective


meacuter er kalt I am cold meacuter finnst gott aeth fara uacutet aeth ganga I like going out for a walk

Since there is no subject for the adjective to base its form on itwill always be in the nominative neuter singular in these sentencesas in the examples

above kalt and gott

Finally whenever a verbal phrase follows the object or adjective its verb will be in the infinitive with aeth after an adjective and without aeth after an object

Exercise 2

Put the words in brackets into the sentences in their correct form

1 Langar ________ (thornuacute) iacute kaffi 2 (Vieth) ________ vantar nyacuteja skoacute 3 (Barnieth) ________ er heitt 4 (Joacuteniacutena) ________ finnst gaman iacute biacuteoacute 5 (Hann) ________ liacuteethur vel heacuter 6 (Huacuten) ________ dreymdi skryacutetinn draum 7 THORNyrstir ________ (thornieth) 8 (Maethurinn) ________ leiethist heima 9 (Konan) ________ thornykir gaman aeth vinna 10 (THORNeir) ________ hryllir vieth sveppum

Athugieth Some verbs can be used in personal as well as impersonal constructions Often the meaning changes when the verb is used in a personal sentence

tiacuteminn liacuteethur truacuteethu meacuterhellip time flies believe mehellipvs henni liacuteethur illa she feels unwell vatnieth er kalt the water is cold vs barninu er kalt the child is cold

Likes and dislikes

In Icelandic likes and dislikes are often expressed through impersonal constructions using verbs such as finnast thornykja and liacuteka Whereas liacuteka is used in combination with an adverb (liacuteka vel or illa) finnast and thornykja are usually followed by a noun or pronoun and an adjective in the nominative case with the adjective taking on the number and gender of the (pro)noun

meacuter finnst lambakjoumlt gott I like lamb honum thornykir mjoacutelk vond he does not like milk

Huldu finnst fiskur goacuteethur Hulda likes fish okkur thornykir graelignmeti ekki gott we do not like vegetables

Finnast and thornykja should be in the third person plural (rather than singular) if the following noun is in the plural henni thornykja hnetur vondar thorneacuter finnast koacutetilettur goacuteethar


All this may seem confusing at first but with some practice you will soon get the hang of it The adjectives goacuteethur and vondur can be qualified by many intensifying adjectives from the straightforward mjoumlg to such popular colloquials as ofsalega rosalega aeligethislega svakalega oacuteskaplega (roughly equivalent to English lsquoawfullyrsquo lsquotremendouslyrsquo etc) so you can easily be a little more expressive than just lsquogoodrsquo or lsquobaethrsquo Or you can replace goacuteethur or vondur with one of the following

ljuacuteffengur delicious oacuteaeligtur inediblegoacutemsaeligtur succulent

Exercise 3

Look at the food items and adjectives paired below and make sentences out of them using finnast or thornykja and making sure the adjectives are in the appropriate forms

Daeligmi siacutetroacutenurmdashvondur meacuter thornykja siacutetroacutenur vondar

1 mjoacutelkmdashofsalega goacuteethur 2 eplimdashmjoumlg goacuteethur 3 franskar kartoumlflurmdashoacuteaeligtur 4 appelsiacutenusafimdashofsalega vondur 5 reyktur laxmdashaeligethislega goacuteethur 6 pylsurmdashhryllilega vondur 7 ofnbakaethur kjuacuteklingurmdashljuacuteffengur 8 svart kaffimdashmjoumlg vondur

Now have another look at the vocabulary describing food Pick out ten items which you like or dislike to various degrees and construct an Icelandic sentence for each describing how much you like or dislike that particular food Try to be a little adventurous and combine for instance some of the food items with an adjective describing their preparation Remember to make sure all the adjectives are in the appropriate forms

Exercise 4A

Below are the ingredients for five different recipes Can you match them with the right recipe from the following list

1 Laukbaka 2 Rjoacutemapoumlnnukoumlkur 3 Siacuteldarsalat 4 Pasta meeth valhnetum og sveppum 5 Lambaguacutellas

i ii iii 3 soethnar kartoumlflur 250 gr hveiti 1frac12 kiacuteloacute lambakjoumlt2 laukar 125 gr smjoumlrliacuteki 1 laukur 2 epli suacuter 1 dl vatn 1 msk toacutematsoacutesa2 rauethroacutefur frac12 tsk salt frac12 1 kjoumltkraftur 3 siacuteldarfloumlk 8 laukar 1 tsk papriacutekuduft


1 dl syacuterethur rjoacutemi 2 toacutematar 1 tsk karriacute 1 tsk sinnep 6ndash8 svartar oacuteliacutefur roacutesmariacuten 3 harethsoethin egg Provence krydd

svartur pipar 4 msk oacuteliacutefoacuteiacutea

kuacutemen salt pipar 2 dl rjoacutemi

iv v 4 bollar hveiti 2ndash3 skalotlaukar frac12 bolli sykur 2 msk oacuteliacutefoacuteliacutea 1 tsk salt safi uacuter frac12 liacutemoacutenu 2 tsk lyftiduft 600gr nyacuteir sveppir 2 egg vanilludropar 600gr ferskt tagliatelli 1 bolli smjoumlrliacuteki 1 dl valhnetur

1 bolli thorneyttur rjoacutemi 1 stykki af parmesan osti

jaretharberjasulta

Exercise 4B

You are hosting a dinner party Compare the dislikes andor dietary restrictions of your guests outlined below Which of the recipes from Exercise 4A would you be unable to use for each What menu would you be left with that would satisfy all What adjustments would you need to make

1 Raj graelignmetisaeligta (vegetarian) 2 Joyce er meeth ofnaeligmi fyrir hnetum (allergic to) 3 Joacuten thornykir fiskur ofsalega vondur 4 Margreacutet er iacute megrun (on a diet)

Dialogue 2

Aacute veitingastaeth

Aacuteslaug is taking her friend Joyce out for dinner at Hotel Borg in the centre of Reykjaviacutek They have been studying the menu (matseethill m) as the waiter (thornjoacutenn) joins them to take their order Why does Aacuteslaug persuade Joyce to have a starter Are they having anything to drink Whatrsquos wrong with Aacuteslaugrsquos dish Are they having anything after the main course

THORNJOacuteNN Goacuteetha kvoumlldieth Erueth thornieth buacutenar aeth aacutekveetha ykkur JOYCE Eacuteg aeligtla aeth faacute lambahrygginn Mig langar aeth smakka iacuteslenskt lambakjoumlt THORNJOacuteNN Lambahrygginn jaacute Og iacute forreacutett JOYCE Enginn forreacutettur fyrir mig takk AacuteSLAUG Juacute viacutest verethur thornuacute aeth smakka forreacutett Maturinn er alveg einstakur heacuter Er

ekkert sem thorneacuter finnst girnilegt aacute matseethlinum THORNJOacuteNN Kannski maacute bjoacuteetha thorneacuter eitthvaeth leacutett blandaeth salat til daeligmis


JOYCE Jaacute takk meacuter list vel aacute thornaeth AacuteSLAUG Og eacuteg aeligtla aeth faacute fiskisuacutepuna og svo lunda THORNJOacuteNN THORNakka ykkur fyrir Eitthvaeth aeth drekka aacute meethan thornieth biacuteethieth AacuteSLAUG thornykir thorneacuter gott rauethviacuten Joyce Eigum vieth aeth faacute okkur rauethviacutensfloumlsku meeth

matnum JOYCE THORNaeth vaeligri indaeliglt

During the main course

THORNJOacuteNN Jaeligja hvernig bragethast thornetta JOYCE Lambakjoumltieth er ljuacuteffengt en thornaeth vantar svoliacutetinn pipar THORNJOacuteNN Augnablik eacuteg skal naacute iacute piparkvoumlrnina Hvernig er lundinn aacute bragethieth AacuteSLAUG Meacuter finnst hann vera aetheins of mikieth soethinn en annars er hann meyr og

bragethgoacuteethur

Later as the waiter clears the table

THORNJOacuteNN Hvaeth maacute bjoacuteetha ykkur iacute eftirreacutett JOYCE Ekkert thornakka thorneacuter fyrir eacuteg er orethin soumldd AacuteSLAUG Ekki heldur fyrir mig takk THORNJOacuteNN Kaffi og koniacuteak iacute kaffistofunni kannski Gott fyrir meltinguna AacuteSLAUG Jaacute er thornaeth ekki Joyce Tvo kaffi og koniacuteak og reikninginn takk

Vocabulary notes veitingastaethur (-ar -ir) restaurant smakka (smakka) acc taste lambahryggur (-jar -ir) m

rack of lamb

girnilegur adj appetizing lundi (-a -ar) puffin thornaeth vaeligri indaeliglt that would be lovely hvernig bragethasthelliphvernig er hellipaacute bragethieth

how doeshelliptaste

piparkvoumlrn (-kvarnar -kvarnir) f

pepper mill

orethinn saddur adj full eaten onersquos fill (It is not at all impolite in Icelandic to say that one is saddur One should on the other hand be careful not to say eacuteg er fullur instead which means lsquoI am drunkrsquo)

melting (-ar) f digestion reikningur (-s ar) bill

Language points


Food and taste

Exercise 5

The following adjectives describe the taste and other qualities of foods They are paired with their opposites where applicable Can you guess their meaning

suacuterbeiskur sourbitter saeligtur seigur tough meyr thornurr dry safariacutekur harethur hard mjuacutekur saltur salty bragethlaus stoumlkkur crispy crunchy linur ferskurnyacuter fresh skemmdur (of mikieth) soethinn over cooked oacutesoethinn hraacuter bragethgoacuteethur tasty bragethvondur feitur fatty magur

Exercise 6

Use as many adjectives as you can think of to describe each of the following food items Think of qualities such as size colour taste etc Make sure that the adjectives are in the right forms

Daeligmi appelsiacutena stoacuter appelsiacutenugul (suacuter)saeligt safariacutek bragethgoacuteeth 1 toacutematur 2 siacutetroacutena 3 rjoacutematerta 4 ruacutesiacutena 5 kaffi 6 iacutes 7 ruacutegbraeth6 8 raeligkja

Now construct a sentence for each of the items describing your dislike of them and why along the lines of the following example (remember to use the correct personal pronoun)

Meacuter thornykja appelsiacutenur goacuteethar af thornviacute aeth thornaeligr eru saeligtar og safariacutekar

1 Meacuter finnst toacutematarhellip There are of course no set answers to this part of the exercise

Exercise 7

You are going to listen to the descriptions of four food items Can you tell from the descriptions what they are Try to do this exercise purely as a listening exercise first If you find it very difficult to understand use the descriptions below to help you

1 THORNetta er aacutevoumlxtur sem er liacutetill rauethur safariacutekur saeligtur mjuacutekur og bragethgoacuteethur 2 Kjoumlt sem kemur fraacute mjoumlg stoacuterum fiski 3 Graelignmeti sem er appelsiacutenugult hart stoumlkkt og saeligtt


4 Stoacuter fiskur sem er vinsaeligll og ljuacuteffengur aacute bragethieth Hann er bleikur aacute litinn thornegar hann er soethinn

Ordering food

Dishes and food items are often ordered by the portions or containers in which they tend to be served and in many cases these are formed into one compound In Dialogue 2 for instance Aacuteslaug ordered a rauethviacutensflaska rather than just rauethviacuten or a flaska af rauethviacuteni Other common examples are a kaffibolli lsquocup of coffeersquo a vatnsglas lsquoglass of waterrsquo or a koumlkustykki lsquopiece of cakersquo As with all compounds it is the final element that determines gender and thus form so that a cup of coffee is ordered in the masculine but a glass of water in the neuter even if you leave out the word bolli lsquotwo coffeesrsquo will be tvo kaffibolla or tvo kaffi for short Similarly one orders eina koacutek because the implication is eina koacutekfloumlsku and eitt Lionrsquos because a chocolate bar is ordered by the piece (stykki) Dishes which are not served in such specific amounts are generally ordered by the skammtur (-s -ar) m If you want chips for two you order tvo (skammta) af froumlnskum Dishes which already form separate portions in themselves such as a sandwich or a hamburger are however just ordered as they are eina samloku and tvo hamborgara It will not always be equally obvious how to order things sometimes you have to take your cue from a menu and sometimes you just have to guess (but always listen closely to the server repeating your order to find out if you guessed right)

Exercise 8

Look at the menu on p 151 and the order the waiter has marked on As she goes and repeats the order to the kitchen can you fill in the right forms of the amounts

Dialogue 3

Exercise 9

You and three of your friends have been sightseeing all day and are ready for a break and a bite to eat You decide to go into Hotel Borg for afternoon coffee Since you speak Icelandic you ask for a menu and tell the waiter what everyone will have after they have made their choice You may not recognize all the items on the menu but as you explain to your friends sometimes one has to take chances Fill in the gaps of the following dialogue Donrsquot forget to place the orders in the correct case




You (to a passing waiter 1 May I have a menu) _________ THORNJOacuteNN Viljieth thornieth faacute kvoumlldmatarseethil eetha siacuteethdegisseethil You (2 The afternoon menu thank you) _________ THORNJOacuteNN Gjoumlrieth svo vel After you have explained the menu to the best of your abilities and everyone has made a

choice THORNJOacuteNN Erueth thornieth buacutein aeth aacutekveetha ykkur You (To friend 1) what would you like FRIEND 1 3 A coffee and a piece of carrot cake You (To the waiter)_________ (To friend 2) And you FRIEND 2 4 Cocoa and waffles You (To the waiter)_________ (To friend 3) And what will you have FRIEND 3 5 A vegetarian sandwich and a Coke You (To the waiter)_________ THORNJOacuteNN Og hvaeth maacute bjoacuteetha thorneacuter You (6 A double espresso and a big piece of chocolate cake) _________

Some indefinite pronouns

In Icelandic if you use a noun in a general sense without the article it is indefinite If you want to emphasize this indefiniteness you use a form of the indefinite pronoun einhver lsquosomersquo

Einhver maethur er iacute siacutemanum til thorniacuten Some guy is on the phone for you Einhverjir straacutekar eru aeth leika seacuter iacute goumltunni Some boys are playing out in the street

Einhver takes on the gender case and number of the noun it stands with It is declined exactly like the interrogative pronoun hver (Lesson 5) except that the neuter singular form is eitthvert in the nominative and accusative Einhver can also be used on its own then its case is determined by its position in the sentence and its gender and number by what it is referring to When used independently the neuter singular form is eitthvaeth instead of eitthvert

The negative form of einhver is enginn lsquonorsquo lsquono onersquo It too can be used either with a noun or independently The neuter singular form is ekkert lsquonothingrsquo Also note the irregular masculine and neuter genitive singular form einskis Here are some examples

Enginn forreacutettur fyrir mig No starter for me Enginn er eins No one is alike Eacuteg heyri ekkert I hear nothing THORNaeth var allt til einskis It all came to nothing

The declension of enginn is as follows


masc fem neut masc fem neut sg enginn engin ekkert pl engir engar engin engan enga ekkert enga engar engin engum engri engu engum engum engum einskis engrar einskis engra engra engra

Exercise 10

Insert the appropriate form of einhver or enginn into the following sentences

1 Kemur ______ til thorniacuten iacute kvoumlld Nei ______ (einhver enginn) 2 Eacuteg heyri ______ (einhver) 3 Kennslan var til ______ (enginn) 4 Huacuten heimsaeligkir ______ (enginn) 5 Hann er aeth tala vieth ______ konu iacute siacutema (einhver) 6 THORNaeth er breacutef til thorniacuten fraacute ______ manni (einhver) 7 Er ______ glas iacute skaacutepnum Nei thornaeth eru ______ gloumls heacuter (einhver enginn) 8 Eacuteg hef ______ tiacutema til aeth fara uacutet (enginn)

Dialogue 4

Gestaboeth

Hrafn og Joacuteniacutena faacute gesti iacute mat iacute kvoumlld THORNriacuter viethskiptafeacutelagar Joacuteniacutenu fraacute Bandariacutekjunum koma iacute heimsoacutekn og boretha hjaacute thorneim THORNau hjoacutenin aeligtla aeth bjoacuteetha upp aacute thornorramat THORNau eru buacutein aeth elda fullt af seacuteriacuteslen-skum reacutettum og aeligtla aeth vera meeth hlaethboreth iacute stofunni THORNaeth hringir gestirnir eru komnir Hrafn fer til dyra

HRAFN Komieth thornieth saeligl og velkomin Gjoumlrieth svo vel og gangieth iacute baeliginn Gestirnir taka af seacuter og fara inn iacute stofu Joacuteniacutena er buacutein aeth leggja aacute borethieth og maturinn er

til en fyrst byacuteethur Hrafn gestunum iacute glas og allir skaacutela JOacuteNINA Jaeligja maturinn er til Viljieth thornieth ekki gjoumlra svo vel og faacute ykkur aeth boretha 1 GESTUR Meeth aacutenaeliggju thornakka thorneacuter fyrir THORNetta liacutetur allt ljoacutemandi uacutet HRAFN THORNetta er hefethbundinn iacuteslenskur vetrarmatur 2 GESTUR Hvers konar reacutettir eru heacuter JOacuteNINA Fyrst er heacuterna harethfiskur thornurrkaethur fiskur sem vieth borethum meeth iacuteslensku

smjoumlri Og thornarna er hangikjoumlt reykt lambakjoumlt meeth kartoumlflum iacute hviacutetri soacutesu 1 GESTUR Og hvaeth er thornetta HRAFN Vieth koumlllum thornetta svieth thornaeth eru kindahausar sem eru sviethnir og klofnir iacute tvennt

og svo soethnir 2 GESTUR En augun og nefieth sjaacutest ennthornaacute THORNaeth er aeth horfa aacute mann En hryllilegt HRAFN THORNaeth liacutetur kannski ekki svo fallega uacutet en kjoumltieth er mjuacutekt og bragethgott Sumum

thornykir gott aeth boretha augun en ykkur er velkomieth aeth sleppa thornviacute


JOacuteNINA THORNetta heacuterna er suacuterhvalur Iacute gamla daga var matur laacutetinn iacute syacuteru til aeth geyma hann yfir veturinn Moumlrgum uacutetlendingum finnst suacutermatur ekki goacuteethur og reyndar sumum Iacuteslendingum ekki heldur en thornaeth er alltaf gaman aeth proacutefa ekki satt

HRAFN Svo eru heacuterna hruacutetspungar THORNaacute verethieth thornieth bara aeth smakka svo segi eacuteg ykkur fraacute thorneim aacute eftir

3 GESTUR Nuacute fer eacuteg aeth hafa aacutehyggjur HRAFN THORNaeth er engin thornoumlrf aacute thornviacute THORNeir eru eins og kjuacutek-lingabringur aacute bragethieth 2 GESTUR En thornaeth er ekki fuglakjoumlt Er thornaeth kannski ekki kjoumlt HRAFN Juacutejuacute thornaeth er lambakjoumlt THORNaeth voru engar graelignmetisaeligtur her a Iacuteslandi iacute gamla

daga Svo er slaacutetur lifrapylsa og bloacuteethmoumlr Mjoumlg gott meeth roacutefustoumlppunni heacuter JOacuteNINA En fyrir thornaacute sem boretha helst ekki kjoumlt er heacuterna poumlnnusteikt yacutesa Svo er liacuteka

raeligkjusalat og rauethkaacutel og baunir og flatbraueth meeth HRAFN En vieth byrjum aacute thornviacute aeth bjoacuteetha ykkur brenniviacutensglas og haacutekarlsbita iacuteslenskt

goacuteethgaeligti Vilt thornuacute reacutetta okkur gloumlsin Joacuteniacutena 1 GESTUR THORNaeth er virkilegur veislumatur sem thornieth bjoacuteethieth okkur heacuter Vieth thornoumlkkum

kaeligrlega fyrir okkur Eacuteg segi skaacutel fyrir gestgjoumlfunum JOacuteNINA THORNakka ykkur kaeligrlega fyrir og verethi ykkur aeth goacuteethu Skaacutel

Vocabulary notes gestaboeth (-s -) party of guests From gestur (-s -ir) lsquoguestrsquo thornorramatur (-ar) traditional Icelandic midwinter food often eaten at thornorrabloacutet feasts held all

over the country during the old Icelandic month of thornorri (January and February)

hlaethboreth (-s -) smorgasbord buffet bjoacuteetha iacute glas offer an (alcoholic) drink skaacutel (-ar -ar) f toast skaacutel cheers skaacutela (skaacutela) touch glasses skaacutel(a) fyrirhellip drink tohellip kindahaus (-s -ar) m

sheeprsquos head

sviethnir og klofnir iacute tvennt

singed and split (cloven) in two

sjaacutest (seacutest) be seen augun sjaacutest ennthornaacute you can still see the eyes ykkur er velkomieth aeth imp

you are welcome to

laacuteta iacute syacuteru pickle suacutermatur pickled food ekki satt lsquoisnrsquot that sorsquo (lit lsquonot truersquo) hruacutetspungur (-s -ar)

ramrsquos testicle

kjuacuteklingabringa (-u -ur)

chicken breast

slaacutetur (-s -) sheep innards made into lifrapylsa (-u -ur) liver sausage and bloacuteethmoumlr (-s) m blood sausage


stappa (-u -ur) mash flatbraueth (-s -) Icelandic flatbread made of ryemeal and baked on a hot plate veislumatur feast meal brenniviacuten (-s -) Icelandic aquavit haacutekarl (-s -ar) m

shark matured (buried) in sand

goacuteethgaeligti (-s -) delicacy


9 Fjoumllskyldan

The family In this lesson you will learn about

bull the family tree family and relatives bull some common irregular nouns and their declensionsbull ownership bull possessive constructions and pronouns

Reading 1

Fjoumllskyldan miacuten

Kristiacuten is preparing to go to Italy for a year as an exchange student She writes the following description of her family in Iceland for her prospective host family in Italy Is Kristiacuten the oldest child How many of Kristiacutenrsquos siblings are still at school Who are Huldarsquos parents With whom does Kristiacuten go riding What are the names of Kristiacutenrsquos grandfathers

Eacuteg heiti Kristiacuten Ragnarsdoacutettir Eacuteg er sautjaacuten aacutera goumlmul Pabbi minn heitir Ragnar Hjaacutelmarsson Hann er prentari alveg eins og Sveinn langafi minn Mamma miacuten heitir Eyruacuten Joacutensdoacutettir Huacuten er skoacutelaritari Eacuteg aacute thornrjuacute systkini tvo braeligethur og eina systur Joacuten broacuteethir er elstur Hann er tuttugu aacutera gamall og er aacute sjoacute Hann er giftur Lilju Eacuteg er naeligst elst og svo kemur Soffiacutea systir Huacuten er nyacuteorethin sextaacuten og er komin iacute menntaskoacutelann Palli litli er yngstur Hann er ennthornaacute iacute grunnskoacutela Hulda broacuteethurdoacutettir er fyrsta barnabarn moumlmmu og pabba Joacuten og Lilja eru nyacutebuacutein aeth eiga hana Lilja maacutegkona er jafn goumlmul meacuter og vieth erum goacuteethar vinkonur

Vieth fjoumllskyldan eigum heima aacute Selfossi sem er kaupstaethur aacute Suethurlandi Vieth buacuteum iacute goumlmlu huacutesi niethri iacute baelig Verkstaeligethieth hans pabba er vieth hliethina aacute huacutesinu Mamma er mikil hestakona Huacuten aacute nokkra hesta og oft thornegar vieth erum komnar uacuter skoacutelanum foumlrum vieth maeligethgurnar aacute hestbak

Afi Hjaacutelmar og amma Soffiacutea eiga boacutendabaelig upp iacute sveit Sigurbjoumlrg langamma miacuten byacuter hjaacute thorneim Vieth foumlrum oft iacute heimsoacutekn til thorneirra thornegar vieth erum iacute friacutei THORNau eiga margar kindur og kyacuter og thornaeth er alltaf gaman aeth koma thornangaeth Eacuteg var heitin eftir oumlmmu Kristiacutenu sem byacuter iacute Reykjaviacutek meeth Guacutestaf stjuacutepa moumlmmu Afi doacute thornegar mamma var ennthornaacute liacutetil Vieth heimsaeligkjum thornau alltaf thornegar vieth foumlrum til Reykjaviacutekur

Mamma er einkabarn en eacuteg aacute margar fraelignkur og fraeligndur uacuter aeligttinni hans pabba Vieth aeligtlum aacute aeligttarmoacutet naeligsta sumar og eacuteg hlakka til aeth hitta alla aeligttingjana miacutena thornar

Vocabulary notes elstur adjsuperl oldest upp iacute sveit (up) in the vera aacute sjoacute be at sea (ie a (-ar -ir) countryside fisherman) kyacuter (- -) f cow nyacuteorethinn adj newly turned heitinn eftir dat be called after just become doacute past tense of die yngstur youngest deyja (deymdash adjsuperl deyreth-deyr) eru nyacutebuacutein aeth have just had her einkabarn (-s -) only child eiga hana (ie the baby) aeligttingi (-ja -jar) relative (from jafn gamall the same age as aeligtt (-ar -ir) adj dat lsquofamily vieth hliethina aacute dat to the side of lineagersquo lsquokinrsquo)boacutendabaeligr farm aeligttarmoacutet (-s -) family reunion(-jar -ir) m

Language points

AEligttartreacuteeth (the family tree)

Family relations in Iceland are extensive and complex for anyone unfamiliar with them Genealogy has been a national obsession ever since Iceland was settled and is still very popular Most Icelanders today can trace their family or aeligtt back for several generations hence the existence in Icelandic of such terms as fimmmenningar (mpl) for people who share the same great-great-grandfather or grandmother

Vocabulary mammamoacuteethir mother maeligethgur fpl mother and pabbifaethir father daughter foreldrar mpl parents maeligethgin npl mother and son systir sister feethgar mpl father and son broacuteethir brother feethgin npl father and fraeligndi male relative daughter (uncle cousin) broacuteethursonur nephewniece on fraelignka female relative doacutettir brotherrsquos side (aunt cousin) systursonur same on sisterrsquos moacuteethurbroacuteethir uncleaunt on doacutettir side systir motherrsquos side maacutegur brother-in-law foumlethurbroacuteethir same on fatherrsquos maacutegkona sister-in-law systir side tengdafaethir fathermother-in- systkini npl siblings moacuteethir law amma grandmother tengdasonur sondaughter-in-

Fjoumllskyldan 135

afi grandfather doacutettir law barnabarn grandchild tengdafoacutelk in-laws lang- great- stjuacutepfaethirmoacuteethir stepfathermother

Note that in Icelandic the words faethir and moacuteethir are rarely used except in very formal situations or by older people The words fraelignka and fraeligndi indicate a general family relationship while a word like moacuteethursystir would only be used in a situation where it was felt that specific detail was desirable Finally the word stjuacutepi used in the text (stjuacutepa f) is only used informally

Exercise 1

Answer the following questions about Kristiacutenrsquos family in full Icelandic sentences

1 Hvaeth heitir tengdafoacutelk Lilju

2 Hvaeth heitir afi Kristiacutenar uacuter foumlethuraeligttinni fullu nafni

3 Hvaeth heita amma og afi Huldu

4 Hvaeth heitir Hulda fullu nafni

5 Kristiacuten er _______ Huldu

Exercise 2

Look at the following family tree and complete the sentences below with the right word

1 Joacutehann er _____ THORNoacuteru 2 Veacutediacutes er _____ Auethar litlu 3 Stefaacuten er _____ Oacutelafar 4 Margreacutet er _____ Giacutesla THORNorsteinssonar 5 Joacuteniacutena er _____ Aacuterna 6 Ingoacutelfur er _____ Katriacutenar 7 Freydiacutes og Joacutehann eru _____


8 Giacutesli THORNorsteinsson og Stefaacuten eru _____

Exercise 3

Kristiacuten has drawn her family tree (aeligttartreacute) (see p 162)

Draw your aeligttartreacute for an Icelandic friend

Some irregular nouns

Many nouns indicating family relations have irregular endings and declension patterns Since they are so common it is good to pay particular attention to them right from the start Here are the declension patterns for the most common irregular nouns

Masculine sg nom faethir broacuteethir sonur fraeligndi boacutendi acc foumlethur broacuteethur son fraelignda boacutenda dat foumlethur broacuteethur syni fraelignda boacutenda gen foumlethur broacuteethur sonar fraelignda boacutenda pl nom feethur braeligethur synir fraeligndur baeligndur acc feethur braeligethur syni fraeligndur baeligndur dat feethrum braeligethrum sonum fraeligndum baeligndum gen feethra braeligethra sona fraelignda baelignda

Feminine (lsquobridgersquo) Neuter sg nom moacuteethir systir doacutettir kyacuter bruacute -in treacute -ieth acc moacuteethur systur doacutettur kuacute bruacute -na treacute -ieth dat moacuteethur systur doacutettur kuacute bruacute -nni treacute -nu

Fjoumllskyldan 137

gen moacuteethur systur doacutettur kyacuter bruacutear -innar treacutes -ins pl nom maeligethur systur daeligtur kyacuter bryacuter -nar treacute -n acc maeligethur systur daeligtur kyacuter bryacuter -nar treacute -n dat maeligethrum systrum daeligtrum kuacutem bruacute(m)-num trjaacute(m) -num gen maeligethra systra daeligtra kuacutea bruacutea -nna trjaacute(a) -nna

Exercise 4

Put the correct form of the nouns in brackets into the following sentences Remember to look closely at the sentence to determine whether the noun should be in the singular or the plural form and in which case it should be

1 Joacuten aacute fjoacutera _______ (broacuteethir) en enga _______ (systir) 2 Hvaeth aacutettu margar _______ (systir) 3 _______ eru komnar til aeth naacute iacute boumlrnin (moacuteethir-in) 4 Oacuteethal _______ heitir iacuteslensk kvikmynd (faethir-inn genpl) 5 Njaacutell aacutetti sjouml _______ (sonur) 6 Systir miacuten aacute thornrjaacuter _______ (doacutettir)

Language points

Possession

A Verbs

There are two Icelandic verbs that indicate possession eiga and hafa Eiga is used to indicate ownership and close relations (family friends etc) whereas hafa is used in combination with more abstract concepts that cannot really be lsquoownedrsquo as such for instance lsquotimersquo or lsquoidearsquo Both verbs govern the accusative case The expression vera meeth encountered earlier indicates rather that someone is carrying or wearing something instead of ownership per se In other words Joacuten er meeth penna means that Joacuten has a pen on him which he does not necessarily own although he might

B Possessive pronouns

Icelandic only has two possessive pronouns proper minn lsquomyrsquo or lsquominersquo and thorninn lsquoyourrsquo or lsquoyoursrsquo As you may already have noticed in the text and examples above these pronouns follow the noun they qualify (ie what is owned) and like all pronouns take on its gender number and case They are declined as follows

masculine feminine neuter masculine feminine neutersg nom minn miacuten mitt thorninn thorniacuten thornitt acc minn miacutena mitt thorninn thorniacutena thornitt dat miacutenum minni miacutenu thorniacutenum thorninni thorniacutenu


gen miacutens minnar miacutens thornins thorninnar thorniacutens pl nom miacutenir miacutenar miacuten thorniacutenir thorniacutenar thorniacuten acc miacutena miacutenar miacuten thorniacutena thorniacutenar thorniacuten dat miacutenum miacutenum miacutenum thorniacutenum thorniacutenum thorniacutenum gen minna minna minna thorninna thorninna thorninna

(NB whenever double -nn follows the stem vowel of the pronoun the vowel is unaccented)

Note that when a noun is followed by a possessive pronoun it must have the definite article

hesturinn minn my horse boacutekin thorniacuten your book verkstaeligethieth mitt my workshop

There are however two important exceptions to this rule 1 Personal names and nouns which exclusively indicate a family or friendly relation

Aacutesta miacuten vinkonur thorniacutenar but maethurinn minnPabbi minn foreldrar thorniacutenir barnieth thornitt

2 Nouns indicating abstractions that cannot be lsquoownedrsquo as such (in verbal phrases used in combination with hafa rather than eiga)

THORNuacute hefur aacutekveethna skoethun THORNetta er skoethun thorniacuten This is your view

Eacuteg hef margar goacuteethar hugmyndir THORNetta eru hugmyndir miacutenarThese are my ideas

C The genitive case

Possessive constructions where the owner is someone else than the speaker or the addressee are made with the noun or pronoun indicating the owner in the genitive case

Hann aacute boacutekina He owns the book THORNetta er boacutekin hans This is his book Huacuten aacute hestinn She owns the horseTHORNetta er hesturinn hennar This is her horse Barnieth aacute boltann It owns the ball THORNetta er boltinn thorness This is its ball Vieth eigum biacutelinn We own the car THORNetta er biacutellinn okkar This is our car THORNieth eigieth huacutesieth You own the houseTHORNetta er huacutesieth ykkar This is your houseTHORNeirthornœrthornau eiga hjoacutelieth They own the bikeTHORNetta er hjoacutelieth thorneirra This is their bike

Here too the preceding noun must have the definite article with the same exceptions as listed under B

Fjoumllskyldan 139

THORNetta er pabbi hans This is his dadbut THORNetta er konan hans This is his wife

Instead of pronouns nouns can also be used in the genitive case to indicate ownership They will then also be placed after the noun indicating what is owned but whenever a genitive noun (rather than a pronoun) follows the preceding noun does not get the definite article

THORNetta er boacutekin hennar This is her book but THORNetta er boacutek konunnar This is the book of the womanTHORNetta er barnieth thorneirra This is their child but THORNetta er barn foreldranna This is the parentsrsquo child

Personal names follow the same rule THORNetta er huacutesieth hans This is his house but THORNetta er huacutes Stefaacutens This is Stefaacutenrsquos house

Athugieth

Nouns or pronouns that are in the genitive case as part of a possessive construction cannot change case along with the noun they qualify but will remain in the genitive Compare the following examples

Eacuteg fer meeth daeligtrum miacutenum but Eacuteg fer meeth daeligtrum hans

Why does daeligtrum not have the definite article

D Icelandic vs English

There are certain instances where English uses a possessive construction where in Icelandic you cannot notably in combination with body parts and ailments which cannot be lsquoownedrsquo and therefore get the definite article instead (usually the context makes it quite clear whose body parts or ailments they are anyway)

Hann reacutettir meacuter houmlndina He gives me his hand Huacuten er aeth blaacutesa haacuterieth She is blow-drying her hairKvefieth er aeth versna My cold is getting worse

Exercise 5

Fill in the correct form of eiga hafa or vera meeth as appropriate

1 Magnuacutes _________ toumllvu 2 Amma og afi _________ fjoumlsur barnaboumlrn 3 THORNuacute _________ noacutegan tiacutema til aeth naacute iacute straeligtoacute 4 Eacuteg _________ fullt af pennum en mamma_________ thornaacute alla


5 Barnieth _________ slaeligmt kvef 6 Huacuten _________ liacutetieth aeth segja

Exercise 6

Reword the following sentences using the possessive pronoun or pronoun in the genitive case as appropriate

Dœmi Eacuteg aacute myndinamdashthornetta er myndin miacuten

1 Huacuten aacute uacutetvarpieth 2 Vieth eigum skaacutepinn 3 THORNau eiga boumlrnin 4 THORNieth eigieth foumltin 5 Eacuteg aacute peningana

Exercise 7

Answer the following questions with the help of the genitive case

Dœami Aacute hjuacuteknmarkonan biacutelinn Jaacute thornetta er biacutell hjuacutekrunarkonunnar

1 Aacute straacutekurinn peysuna

2 Aacute kennarinn pennann

3 Eiga boumlrnin boltann

4 Aacute foacutelkieth huacutesieth

5 Aacute amma myndirnar

Dialogue 1

Bruacuteethkaup

Dagnyacute runs into her friend Guethruacuten on the street They have not seen each other for a while so they stop and have a brief chat Who is getting married Is it going to be a big wedding What people are they expecting from Canada Where is Guethruacuten going

DAGNYacute Saeligl og blessueth Guethruacuten GUethRUacuteN Saeligl Dagnyacute Hvaeth segirethu gott DAGNYacute Allt fiacutent en thornuacute

Fjoumllskyldan 141

GUethRUacuteN Mest liacutetieth THORNaeth er langt siacuteethan maethur hefur seacuteeth thornig Hvaeth er aeth freacutetta af thorneacuter DAGNYacute Allt aacutegaeligtt Broacuteethir minn er aeth gifta sig aacute laugardaginn kemur GUethRUacuteN Nuacute hvaeth ertu aeth segja hann Palli aeligtlar aeth gifta sig DAGNYacute Jaacute thornaeth er komieth aeth thornviacute THORNau Hoacutelmfriacuteethur kaeligrasta hans eiga von aacute barni iacute vor GUethRUacuteN En gaman aeth heyra Aacute huacuten annars ekki liacuteka boumlrn meeth fyrrverandi manni DAGNYacute Juacute stelpu og straacutek GUethRUacuteN Jaeligja eru foreldrar thorniacutenir ekki spenntir DAGNYacute Juacute mjoumlg spenntir THORNaeth verethur fyrsta bruacuteethkaupieth iacute fjoumll-skyldunni Svo verethur

stoacuter veisla eftir giftinguna aacute Hoacutetel Iacuteslandi thornannig aeth vieth mamma erum alveg aacute fullu Fullt af aeligttingjum aeligtla aeth koma iacute bruacuteethkaupieth jafnvel fraelignd-foacutelkieth hans pabba fraacute Kanada

GUethRUacuteN Nuacute eigieth thornieth fraeligndfoacutelk thornar DAGNYacute Jaacute langamma miacuten og maethurinn hennar fluttu til Kanada meeth fimm af

boumlrnunum Hvaeth er aeth freacutetta af thorneacuter annars GUethRUacuteN THORNaeth er alltaf noacuteg aeth gera hjaacute meacuter Enda vereth eacuteg viacutest aeth halda aacutefram eacuteg er aeth

fara aacute fund Svo segi eacuteg bara goacuteetha skemmtun aacute laugardaginn og eacuteg bieth kaeligrlega aeth heilsa heim til thorniacuten

DAGNYacute THORNakka thorneacuter fyrir Guethruacuten eacuteg skila thornviacute

Vocabulary notes thornaeth er langt siacuteethan maethur itrsquos been a long time since I (lit lsquoonersquo) have hefur seacuteeth thornig seen you thornaeth er komieth aeth thornviacute the time has come it has come to that kaeligrasta (-u -ur) girlfriend (lsquoboyfriendrsquo is kaeligrasti (-a -ar)) eiga von aacute dat expect gifting (-ar -ar) wedding (particularly the wedding ceremony)vera aacute fullu (iacute) dat be very busy (with) fluttu past tense of flytja move enda conj and whatrsquos more in fact biethja aeth heilsa dat give onersquos regards Eacuteg bieth aeth heilsa heim til thorniacuten give my regards to everyone at home skila (skila) dat pass on

Language points

Personal pronouns once more

In Icelandic there are some usages of the personal pronoun that do not occur in English First it is commonly used just before a personal name or noun to indicate familiarity This happens for instance often in combination with references to relatives

hann pabbi hann Palli huacuten systir miacuten huacuten Halldoacutera


One could compare this with English lsquoourrsquo as in lsquoour dadrsquo although it isnrsquot always easily translated Compare for instance the following title of a famous Icelandic folk tale (and pop band) Saacutelin hans Joacutens miacutens lsquothe soul of my Johnrsquo As you can see the pronoun is declined along with the noun or name it stands with and when used in a genitive (possessive) construction the preceding noun must have the definite article in accordance with the rules explained above Compare the following

saacutel Joacutens but saacutelin hans Joacutens

Some other examples

THORNetta er huacutesieth hans Stefaacutens This is the house of our Steven THORNetta eru fraelignkar og fraeligndur uacuter aeligttinni hans pabba These are aunts and uncles from my dadrsquos side of the family

Next the plural personal pronoun is often used in Icelandic in combination with a name or noun that is to be included in the reference Thus the phrase vieth mamma is translated into English as lsquomum and Irsquo vieth already includes the speaker so all that needs to be added is the reference to who else is included

vieth fjoumllskyldan my family and I thornieth afi you and granddad vieth systkinin my brothers and sisters and Ithornau Halldoacutera he and Halldoacutera

Note the use of the definite article in the examples

Exercise 8

Answer the following questions as prompted using the possessive construction Daeligmi Er thornetta greiethslukortieth thornitt (Yes) Jaacute thornetta er greiethslukortieth mitt Er thornetta hjoacutelieth thornitt (Norarrgranddad) Nei thornetta er hjoacutel afa miacutens thornetta er hjoacutelieth hans afa

1 Er thornetta taskan thorniacuten (Yes)

2 Er thornetta biacutellinn thorninn (Norarr mother)

3 Er thornetta boacutekin thorniacuten (Norarrbrother)

4 Er thornetta uacutelpan thorniacuten (Norarraunt)

5 Eru thornetta gleraugun thorniacuten (Yes)

6 Eru thornetta daeligturnar thorniacutenar (Norarrsister)

Fjoumllskyldan 143

Dialogue 2

Exercise 9

As you are walking down the street in Huacutesaviacutek with your mother (3) who has only been here since yesterday (5) and is visiting you in Iceland (4) you bump into Magnuacutes a local acquaintance You stop for a brief chat (1ndash2) but then you have to be on your way (6) you are going to meet your friend Brynja in the town centre (7) and after that you intend to go on a sightseeing trip into Aacutesbyrgi (n 8) a magnificent rock formation which according to legend is a hoofprint of Odinrsquos eight-legged horse Sleipnir Can you fill in the gaps in the following dialogue accordingly

MAGNUacuteS Komdu saeligl(l) YOU (1) _________________________ MAGNUacuteS Hvaeth er aeth freacutetta af thorneacuter YOU (2) _________________________ MAGNUacuteS Allt aacutegaeligtt Og hver er thornetta YOU (3) _________________________ (4) _________________________ MAGNUacuteS Jaeligja thornaeth er gaman aeth heyra Hvaeth er huacuten buacutein aeth vera lengi YOU (5) _________________________ MAGNUacuteS Er thornaeth jaacute YOU (6) _________________________ (7ndash8) _________________________ MAGNUacuteS Nuacutejaacute eacuteg aeligtla ekki aeth halda ykkur Eacuteg segi bara goacuteetha fereth YOU (9) _________________________ MAGNUacuteS Verieth thornieth blessaethar YOU (10) _________________________

Exercise 10

Write a brief description of your family in Icelandic


10 Stefnumoacutet

Appointments In this lesson you will learn about

bull using the phone and writing letters bull arranging meetings and appointments making plansbull ordinal numbers and dates bull the weak declension of adjectives bull the imperative bull the verbs munu and skulu

Dialogue 1

Er Hrafn Joumlkulsson vieth

Mary Scanlon is phoning from Dublin to arrange a meeting next week to discuss a business project When would Mary like to meet Hrafn What does Hrafn suggest they do

MARY Goacuteethan daginn er Hrafn Joumlkulsson vieth RITARI Hver er thornetta meeth leyfi MARY Mary Scanlon heiti eacuteg fraacute DampM-fyrirtaeligki iacute Dyflinni RITARI Andartak eacuteg skal gefa thorneacuter samband MARY THORNakka thorneacuter fyrir HRAFN Halloacute Hrafn heacuterna MARY Blessaethur Hrafn thornetta er Mary Scanlon heacuterna fraacute Dyflinni HRAFN Jaacute saeligl og blessueth Mary hvernig hefurethu thornaeth MARY Gott takk Eacuteg aeligtla til Iacuteslandsi naeligstu viku og mig langar aeth hitta thornig til aeth raeligetha

nyacuteja verkefnieth okkar HRAFN Goacuteeth hugmynd Hvenaeligr kemurethu og hvaeth verethurethu lengi MARY Eacuteg kem aacute thornriethjudaginn og mun liacuteklega fara aftur aacute foumlstudag HRAFN Einmitt Verethurethu laus fimmtudaginn 17 noacutevember MARY Biacuteddu eacuteg skal athuga thornaeth 17 noacutevember er fimmtudagur segirethu Nei thornviacute

miethur eacuteg er upptekin allan fimmtudaginn HRAFN Er thornaeth jaacute Vaeligri haeliggt aeth hittast aacute miethvikudag MARY Jaacute en thornaacute helst seinni partinn HRAFN THORNaacute sting eacuteg upp aacute aeth vieth hittumst um sexleytieth og eacuteg byacuteeth thorneacuter iacute kvoumlldmat

Hvernig vaeligri thornaeth

MARY Alveg ljoacutemandi thornakka thorneacuter kaeligrlega fyrir Hvar hitti eacuteg thornig HRAFN Hittumst aacute Hoacutetel Oacuteethinsveacuteum klukkan sex iacute veitingasalnum MARY Allt iacute fiacutena Eacuteg hlakka til aeth sjaacute thornig HRAFN Soumlmuleiethis Sjaacuteumst aacute miethvikudag

Vocabulary notes andartak (-s -) moment hellipleytieth aroundhellip raeligetha (raeligethi) acc discuss orsquoclock liacuteklega adv probably likely vaeligri past subj would bebiacuteddu imp of wait of vera biacuteetha (biacuteeth) veitingasalur restaurantstinga (sting) suggest (-ar -ir) upp aacute dat

Language points

Dagsetningar (dates)

Dates in Icelandic involve the use of ordinal numbers (Note cardinal numbers were given in Lesson 3) Here are the ordinals

1 fyrsti 11 ellefti 30 thornriacutetugasti 2 annar 12 toacutelfti 40 fertugasti 3 thornriethji 13 thornrettaacutendi 50 fimmtugasti 4 fjoacuterethi 14 fjoacutertaacutendi 60 sextugasti 5 fimmti 15 fimmtaacutendi 70 sjoumltugasti 6 sjoumltti 16 sextaacutendi 80 aacutettugasti 7 sjoumlundi 17 sautjaacutendi 90 niacutetugasti 8 aacutettundi 18 aacutetjaacutendi 100 himdraethasti 9 niacuteundi 19 niacutetjaacutendi 10 tiacuteundi 20 tuttugasti 205 tvouml hundraethasti og fimmti 21 tuttugasti og fyrsti 1000 thornuacutesu ndasti

Note that ordinal numbers in Icelandic are always followed by a full stop and also in dates

Exercise 1

Say the following dates in Icelandic

17 juacuteniacute 1 maiacute 25 desember 29 februacutear 2 aacuteguacutest


Weak declension of adjectives

As you probably noticed all the ordinals except one end in -i This is the masculine nominative singular ending in the weak declension of adjectives Whenever an adjective qualifies a definite noun that is to say a noun with a definite article demonstrative or possessive pronoun or a personal name its declension will be weak rather than strong (as learned in Lesson 5) The good news is that the weak declension pattern is much easier to memorize than the strong one Here it is

masculine feminine neutersg nom _____i _____a acc _____a _____a

dat _____a _____a

gen _____a _____a

pl

(for all genders and cases)

Ordinal numbers always follow the weak declension pattern In dates they will be in the masculine because the months are masculine The only ordinal that has a completely different declension pattern is annar

masculine feminine neuter sg nom annar oumlnnur annaeth acc annan aethra annaeth dat oumlethrum annarri oumlethru gen annars annarrar annarspl nom aethrir aethrar oumlnnur acc aethra aethrar oumlnnur dat oumlethrum oumlethrum oumlethrum gen annarra annarra annarra

Annar is used in a variety of other ways as well It can also mean for instance lsquoone out of tworsquo lsquoanotherrsquo and lsquoelsersquo

In certain cases adjectives are always declined weakly Examples are naeligsti and siacuteethasti More about this in Lesson 12

Exercise 2

Put the adjectives in brackets into the following sentences in their appropriate form

1 Hann var heacuter iacute ________ (siacuteethasti) viku 2 Stelpan fer iacute ________ (nyacuter) kjoacutelinn 3 Vieth aeligtlum aeth heimsaeligkja oumlmmu og afa ________ (naeligsti) vor

Stefnumoacutet 147

4 THORNoacutera ________ (stoacuter) systir miacuten kemur ekki meeth okkur 5 Mamma og pabbi aeligtla aeth halda (acc)________ (stoacuter) veislu () fyrir

bruuacuteethaupsafmaeliglieth 6 ________ (bandariacuteskur) forsetafruacutein kemur til Iacuteslands

Exercise 3

Answer the following questions in Icelandic according to the English prompts given in brackets Write out all numbers

1 Hvenaeligr kemurethu (Monday 3 September) 2 Hvenaeligr ferethu heim (next week) 3 Vieth sjaacuteumst ________ (on Friday) 4 Hvenaeligr aeligtlarethu aeth heimsaeligkja foreldra thorniacutena (on Sunday) 5 Hvenaeligr aacute Oacutelafur afmaeligli (2 apriacutel) 6 Hvenaeligr aeligtlarethu aeth hitta vini thorniacutena (tomorrow around 8 orsquoclock)

Siacuteminn (the telephone) vocabulary hringja iacute acc ringtelephone erhellipvieth ishellipthere siacutemaskraacute telephone thornetta er hannhuacuten speaking (-r -r) f directory augnablik one moment halloacute jaacute used to answer andartak the telephone aacute eacuteg aethviltu taka can Iwould you hver er thornetta who is calling skilaboeth take a (meeth leyfi) (please) message thornetta erhelliphellip this ishelliphellip siacutema-voumlrethur operator heacuterna speaking (-varethar -verethir)

(thornaeth er) siacutemi therersquos a telephone leggja hang up (the til thorniacuten call for you (siacutemtoacutelieth) aacute phone) gefa samband connect eacuteg heyri illa iacute I canrsquot hear youfarsiacutemi (GSM mobile phone thorneacuterthornaeth er we have a bad siacutemi also slaeligmt samband connection called gemsi) velja (vel) dial a number siacutemsvari answering machine nuacutemer thornetta er siacutems- this is the hannhuacuten er iacute she is on the varinn answering siacutemanum phone hjaacutehellip machine ofhellip breacutefsiacutemi fax gjoumlrieth svo vel please leave a hringja phone long aeth skila eftir message utanbaeligjar distanceabroad skilaboeth til uacutetlanda siacutemaliacutena extension hringja make a local callsiacutemaklefi telephone box innanbaeligjar siacutemkort telephone card landsnuacutemer country code halda liacutenunni hold the phone svaeligethisnuacutemer area code


thornaeth er aacute tali the line is busy siacutemanuacutemer phone number liacutenan er svargreitt siacutemtal collect call upptekin

Dialogue 2

Aethpanta tiacutema

Aacuterni telephones to make a dental appointment Who does Aacuterni want to make an appointment with Why canrsquot Aacuterni make it on Tuesday

MOacuteTTAKA Tannlaeligkningastofan goacuteethan dag AacuteRNI Jaacute blessueth mig langar aeth panta tiacutema hjaacute Sigurjoacuteni tannlaeligkni MOacuteTTAKA Jaacute thornaeth er haeliggt Er eitthvaeth alvarlegt aeth eetha aeligtlarethu iacute skoethun AacuteRNI Eacuteg aeligtla bara iacute skoethun MOacuteTTAKA Allt iacute lagi Sigurjoacuten aacute lausan tiacutema aacute thornriethjudaginn kemur AacuteRNI Klukkan hvaeth MOacuteTTAKA Reacutett eftir haacutedegi AacuteRNI Nei thornaeth hentar meacuter ekki thornaacute er eacuteg iacute vinnu MOacuteTTAKA Maacutenudaginn haacutelf fimm AacuteRNI Hvaetha maacutenaethardagur er thornaeth MOacuteTTAKA 6 juacuteniacute AacuteRNI Jaacute thornaeth er fiacutent

Vocabulary notes moacutettaka (-u -ur) reception alvarlegur adj serious panta (panta) acc

book skoethun (-ar -ir) examination check-up

panta tiacutema thornaeth hentar meacuter ekki

that doesnrsquot suit me

make an appointment (at the doctorrsquos etc)

maacutenaethardagur day of the month tannlaeligknastofa dental clinic (-s -ar) (ie date) er eitthvaeth aeth is something wrong

Reading 1

Breacutef

Where did John get the idea to write THORNoacuterhallur What information is he looking for

23 Main Street Minnesota Minnesota

Stefnumoacutet 149

56264 USA 4 oktoacuteber 1999

THORNoacuterhallur Houmlskuldsson Boacutekabuacuteeth Maacutels og menningar Laugavegi 18 101 Reykjaviacutek Iceland

Kaeligri THORNoacuterhallur Sigruacuten Joacutensdoacutettir fraacute iacuteslenska sendiraacuteethinu iacute Washington raacuteethlagethi meacuter aeth hafa samband

vieth thornig Eacuteg er aeth laeligra iacuteslensku upp aacute eigin spyacutetur af thornviacute aeth thornaeth er engin iacuteslenskukennsla iacute boethi her iacute naacutegrenninu Maacutelieth er aeth mig vantar baeligkur til aeth aeligfa mig iacute maacutelinu Viltu gjoumlra svo vel aeth senda meacuter boacutekaskraacute og upplyacutesingar um pantanir og greiethslu

Meeth fyrirfram thornoumlkk virethingarfyllst John Anderson

Vocabulary notes kaeligr adj dear (in salutations always in the weak declension)raacuteethlagethi past tense of raacuteethleggja (raacuteethlegg) dat+acc adviseupp aacute eigin spyacutetur on onersquos own boeth (-s -) offer iacute boethi offered on offer maacutel (-s -) matter case (also short for tungumaacutel lsquolanguagersquo) aeligfa (aeligfa) sig iacute dat practise (oneself) in greiethsla (-u -ur) payment fyrirfram in advance virethingarfyllst adjsuperl sincerely respectfully


Exercise 4 Neyetharsiacutemanuacutemer

Look at the information on p 177 from an Icelandic telephone directory and say which number you would call if you were in Reykjaviacutek and

1 You saw a building on fire 2 You saw someone knocked down by a car 3 You noticed your wallet had been stolen 4 You urgently needed a doctor in the middle of the night 5 You needed to know the exact time 6 You wanted to know the phone number of someone in Iceland not yet listed in the

directory

Stefnumoacutet 151

Dialogue 3

Komdu meeth meacuter iacute biacuteoacute

THORNoacuterey rings Kristinn to ask him to go to the cinema with her Why does THORNoacuterey want to go to the cinema tonight What are Kristinnrsquos plans for the evening Why do they have to be there early

KRISTINN Jaacute THORN REY Hver er thornetta KRISTINN Kristinn THORNOacuteREY Saeligll THORNoacuterey heacuterna Heyrethu thornaeth er alveg moumlgnueth spaelignsk mynd syacutend iacute

Haacuteskoacutelabiacuteoacutei iacute kvoumlld og mig langar svo oacuteskaplega aeth sjaacute hana Nennirethu aeth koma meeth meacuter

KRISTINN Ekki iacute kvoumlld Eacuteg er nefnilega aeth klaacutera verkefni sem eacuteg aacute aeth skila aacute morgun og eacuteg mun liacuteklega ekki vera buacuteinn fyrr en seinna iacute kvoumlld

THORNOacuteREY Hvaeth aacutettu mikieth eftir aeth skrifa KRISTINN Fimm blaethsiethur eetha svo THORNOacuteREY THORNuacute verethur enga stund aeth thornviacute Haltu aacutefram aeth skrifa thornangaeth til iacute kvoumlld og klaacuteraethu

thornaeth sem eftir er iacute fyrramaacutelieth KRISTINN AElig THORNoacuterey eacuteg veit ekkihellip THORNOacuteREY Myndin er bara syacutend iacute kvoumlld Laacutettu naacutemieth vera iacute thornetta sinn og komdu meeth meacuter iacute

biacuteoacute gerethu thornaeth KRISTINN Jaeligja thornaacute hvenaeligr byrjar syacuteningin THORNOacuteREY Klukkan 9 en thornaeth vaeligri best aeth maeligta snemma svo aeth vieth faacuteum oumlrugglega

mietha Eacuteg kem og saeligki thornig korter yfir aacutetta Vertu tilbuacuteinn KRISTINN Allt iacute lagi Eacuteg seacute thornig heacuter korter yfir aacutetta

Vocabulary notes magnaethur adj brilliant super iacute thornetta sinn this once for nefnilega adv namely you see once klaacutera (klaacutera) acc finish naacutem (-s -) studies seinna adjcomp later gerethu thornaeth please thornuacute verethur enga it will take you syacutening f show(n) stund aeth thornviacute no time at all syacutendur adj

Language points

Imperative

You have already encountered examples of the imperative for instance heyrethu listen biacuteddu wait sjaacuteethu look vertu tilbuacuteinn be ready


The imperative is a verb form used to tell people what or what not to do The singular imperative is formed in Icelandic by taking the stem of the verb and by adding with certain modifications the suffix -ethu (from thornuacute) as in farethu (far- and -ethu lsquogorsquo from infinitive fara) The rules for the modifications are as follows

1 Verbs belonging to the -a- group keep the infinitive -a in the imperative singular borethaethu (from boretha lsquoeatrsquo) klaacuteraethu (from klaacutera lsquofinishrsquo)

2 -ethu will change to -du when the stem of the verb ends in -l -m or -n veldu (from velja lsquochoosersquo) komdu (from koma)

kenndu (from kenna lsquoteachrsquo)

The -eth will assimilate to -d when the stem ends in -eth leiddu (from leietha lsquoleadrsquo lsquoconductrsquo)

3 -ethu will change to -tu whenever the stem ends in -p -t -k or -s hlauptu (from hlaupa lsquorunrsquo) brostu (from brosa lsquosmilersquo)

laacutettu (from laacuteta lsquoletrsquo)

Note if the stem already ends in -dd or -tt no extra -d or -t will be added

haeligttu (from haeligtta lsquostoprsquo lsquoquitrsquo)

In the plural the second person plural form of the verb is used sometimes followed by its (separate) subject thornieth and sometimes with -i (from thornieth) added as a suffix as in farieth (thornieth) or fariethi although in the plural it is fairly common to use only the verb

The following are among the more common verbs which have an irregular singular imperative

ganga gakktu gangieth (i)vera vertu verieth (i) thornegja (be quiet) thornegiethu thornegieth (i) hringja hringdu hringieth (i)senda sendu sendieth (i)halda haltu haldieth (i)binda bittu bindieth (i)standa stattu standieth (i)

The imperative is commonly used in Icelandic for straightforward requests This is not at all considered impolite Less direct constructions using Viltu (gjoumlra svo vel aeth)hellipor the subjunctive (see Lesson 16) always remain an option if desired but when it concerns a simple request made of someone familiar it would be considered unnecessarily wordy in Icelandic Compare for instance the following

Stefnumoacutet 153

Naacuteethu iacute mjoacutelk fyrir mig elskan Get me some milk (would you) loveReacutettu meacuter saltieth Pass me the salt (please) Laacutettu ekki svona (Would you) stop acting up

Exercise 5

The following cooking instructions are from a recipe for pasta with smoked salmon Add the verbs in brackets first in the singular and then in the plural imperative form

1 ________ smjoumlrieth (braeligetha) 2 ________ laukinn myacutekjast (laacuteta) 3 ________ helminginn af laxinum (saxa) 4 ________ hann uacutet iacute smjoumlrieth (setja) 5 ________ thornetta varlega (hita) 6 ________ til sleacutetta soacutesu (buacutea) 7 ________ thornaeth sem eftir er af laxinum (skera) 8 ________ pastaeth (sjoacuteetha) 9 ________ saman vieth laxasoacutesuna (hraeligra) 10 ________ meeth salti og pipar (krydda) 11 ________ laxarestinni saman vieth (blanda) 12 ________ reacutettinn fram (bera)

The verbs munu and skulu

The verb munu usually indicates futurity moderated by uncertainty or doubt

Eacuteg mun (liacuteklega) fara aftur aacute foumlstudaginn I will probably leave again on Friday Hann mun ekki klaacutera ritgerethina fyrr en seinna He (probably) wonrsquot finish the essay until later

Skulu indicates (a) strong intention or obligation or (b) advice or promise

a Eacuteg skal naacute proacutefinu hvaeth sem paeth kostar I will pass the exam no matter what

b THORNaacute skalt ekki gera thornetta strax Donrsquot (=you shouldnrsquot) do this right away

Eacuteg skal naacute iacute kaffi fyrir thornig I will get you some coffee

Note when used in the second person the meaning of skulu resembles that of an imperative In the first person plural the meaning of skulu is closely related to that of the first person plural without vieth indicating a suggestion or encouragement (English lsquoletrsquosrsquo)

Vieth skulum koma okkur iacute biacuteoacute=Komum okkur iacute biacuteoacute


Munu and skulu are the only Icelandic verbs with an infinitive ending in -u and their conjugation is rather irregular

munu skulueacuteg mun skal thornuacute munt skalt huacuten mun skal vieth munum skulumthornieth munieth skulieth thornaeligr munu skulu

Another important characteristic of these two verbs is that they are followed by a main verb in the infinitive without aeth

Exercise 6

Add the correct form of munu or skulu as appropriate to the following sentences

1 THORNieth ________ fara heim strax 2 Eacuteg ________ fara uacutet meeth hundinn fyrir thornig 3 THORNuacute ________ sjaacute eftir thornessu 4 THORNuacute ________ gera heimaverkefnin thorniacuten 5 Hann ________ saeligkja thornig klukkan niacuteu

Stefnumoacutet 155

11 Gisting

Accommodation In this lesson you will learn about

bull booking accommodation bull indefinite dual and plural pronouns baacuteethir allir sumir nokkrir ymsirbull the genitive case with adjectives bull the dative of difference bull numerals with plural nouns bull more noun groups

Dialogue 1

Aeth panta herbergi

After having spent several days in Reykjaviacutek Michael and his friends are preparing to tour the Icelandic countryside Michael phones up a guest house to book accommodation for the first two nights What kind of rooms does Michael want Are they available How will the little boy be accommodated

MICHAEL Eigieth thornieth nokkur herbergi laus annaeth kvoumlld GESTGJAFI Eins eetha tveggja manna herbergi MICHAEL Tveggja manna herbergi GESTGJAFI Hvaeth moumlrg MICHAEL Tvouml meeth baethi ef haeliggt er GESTGJAFI Hvaeth margar naeligtur MICHAEL Tvaeligr GESTGJAFI Biacuteddu viethhellipVieth eigum eitt herbergi laust meeth baethi hitt hefur sameiginlegt

baeth og snyrtingu en thornaeth er handlaug aacute herberginu MICHAEL Hvaeth kostar gistingin GESTGJAFI Herbergi meeth baethi kostar 9500 kr aacute noacutett og hitt 7800 kr MICHAEL Er morgunverethur innifalinn GESTGJAFI Jaacute hann er innifalinn og auk thorness eru oumlll herbergin buacutein siacutema sjoacutenvarpi

liacutetlum kaeligliskaacutep og oumlrbylgjuofni MICHAEL Vieth erum liacuteka meeth liacutetinn straacutek meeth okkur Vaeligri haeliggt aeth setja aukaruacutem inn iacute

herbergieth GESTGJAFI THORNaeth er enginn vandi Hvaeth er straacutekurinn gamall MICHAEL Hann er thornriggja aacutera

GESTGJAFI THORNaacute faacuteieth thornieth 5000 kr iacute afslaacutett Boumlrn aeth fjoumlgurra aacutera aldri greietha 4500 kr MICHAEL Er thornaeth jaacute Fraacutebaeligrt En segethu meacuter er langt aeth fara iacute sundlaug GESTGJAFI Nei thornaeth er oumlrstutt aetheins nokkra miacutenuacutetna ganga MICHAEL Allt iacute fiacutena thornaacute aeligtla eacuteg aeth panta herbergin tvouml og aukaruacutem

Vocabulary notes hitt nsg of hinn the other one buacuteinn dat here lsquofitted outdem pron withrsquo sameiginlegur common shared aukaruacutem (-s -) extra bed (fromadj auka- lsquoextrarsquo snyrting (-ar -ar) toilet washroom lsquoadditionalrsquo) handlaug wash basin vandi (-a -ar) problem (-ar -ar) greietha (greiethi) pay innifalinn adj included dat+acc auk thorness apart from (that) oumlr- pref very in addition sundlaug (-ar -ar) swimming pool

Language points

The genitive with adjectives

In Icelandic the genitive case is used with an adjective actual or implied indicating a measure in space or time ie how old big deep wide far etc someone or something is For instance in the dialogue above Michael wanted a tveggja manna (stoacutert) herbergi as well as an extra bed for a priggja aacutera (gamall) straacutekur while the distance to the swimming pool was said to be only nokkra miacutenuacutetna (loumlng) ganga In these instances there are no specific verbs or prepositions to remind you which case to use and as you can see more often than not the adjective itself is absent from the sentence so that it can be tricky to remember to use the genitive case in the appropriate instances As always practice will help you get into the habit It may also help to memorize a particular common example such as telling (some)onersquos age

Exercise 1

Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the words in brackets

1 Hvaeth er thornetta huacutes haacutett THORNetta er ________ (3 haeligethir) huacutes 2 Hvaeth er sundlaugin djuacutep Huacuten er ________ (2 metrar) laug 3 Hvaeth er iacutebuacuteethin stoacuter Huacuten er ________ (4 herbergi) iacutebuacuteeth 4 Hvaeth verethur mikil seinkun aacute fluginu THORNaeth verethur ________ (20 miacutenuacutetur) seinkun 5 Hvaeth er ferethin loumlng THORNaeth er ________ (1 dagur) fereth

Now can you answer the following questions

6 Hvaeth er Iyacuteethveldieth Iacutesland gamalt

Gisting 157

7 Hvaeth er Njaacutels saga goumlmul 8 Og hvaeth ert thornuacute gamallgoumlmul

Indefinite dual and plural pronouns baacuteethir allir sumir nokkrir yacutemsir

All of these pronouns are declined as strong adjectives with only a few exceptions outlined below

Baacuteethir lsquobothrsquo is always in the plural and must be followed by a noun with the definite article unless the noun refers to something which only comes in a pair Compare the following examples

Hann aacute baacuteetha biacutelana He owns both (the) carsbut baeligethi augu both (the) eyes

Note that baacuteethir has irregular forms in the neuter nominative and accusative baeligethi and in the genitive for all genders beggja

Allir lsquoallrsquolsquoeveryonersquo can occur in both the singular and the plural When modifying a noun it means lsquoall or lsquowholersquo The noun must have the definite article

Hann aacute alla biacutelana He owns all (of the) cars

Huacuten drekkur allt kaffieth She drinks all of the coffee

When used as a pronoun on its own allur means lsquoeverybodyrsquo or in the neuter lsquoeverythingrsquo

Allt iacute fiacutena lit lsquoEverything finersquo ie all right

Allir eru heima Everyone is (at) home

Sumir lsquosomersquo is almost always used in the plural with or without a noun Sumir uacutetlendingar boretha ekki svieth Some foreigners donrsquot eat svieth Sumir truacutea aacute drauma Some (people) believe in dreams

Nokkrir usually means lsquoseveralrsquo when used in the plural

Eacuteg aacute nokkrar baeligkur eftir Laxness I own several books by Laxness

However it can also mean lsquoany(one)(thing)rsquo in which case it can occur in the singular or the plural and can be on its own or followed by a noun As the implication is negative a positive answer will have juacute rather than jaacute

Er nokkur heacuter Nei enginn Is anyone here No no one Heyrir thornuacute nokkueth Juacute eacuteg heyri eitthvaeth Do you hear anything (at all) Yes I do hear something Eiga thornau nokkurt barn Juacute thornau eiga stelpu Do they have a child Yes they have a girl


Note that the neuter singular form is different depending on whether it is followed by a neuter noun (nokkurt barn) or is used independently (nokkueth)

Yacutemsir lsquovariousrsquo can be used in the singular or the plural both as a subject and as an adjective

Yacutemsir halda thornviacute fram aethhellip Various people claim thathellipIIann thornekkir yacutemsa stjoacuternmaacutelamenn He knows various politiciansaf yacutemsu tagi of various kinds aacute yacutemsan haacutett in various ways

Dialogue 2

Aacute ferethaskrifstofu

While in Iceland Joyce would like to take the opportunity to visit Greenland for a few days She goes to a travel agent to enquire after organized trips and fares How long does Joyce want to go for On what day would she depart Can she stay longer if she chooses

JOYCE Goacuteethan daginn Mig langar aeth faacute upplyacutesingar um pakkaferethir til Graelignlands STARFSMAethUR Hvaeth aeligtlar thornuacute aeth vera lengi Vieth erum meeth thornriggja daga eetha

vikuferethir iacute boethi JOYCE Eacuteg var aeth hugsa um helgarfereth Hvaeth er innifalieth iacute thornriggja daga fereth STARFSMAethUR THORNaeth eru flogieth til Narsarsuaq og svo gisting meeth haacutelfu faeligethi

graelignlenskt kynningarkvoumlld aacute hoacutetelinu og haacutelfs dags eetha dags skoethunarferethir til daeligmis til Brattahliacuteethar thornar sem eru ruacutestirnar af baelig Eiriacuteks rauetha og sigling uacutet meeth Eiriacuteksfirethi

JOYCE Hvaeth kostar ferethin STARFSMAethUR Huacuten kostar 43500 aacute mann iacute tviacutebyacuteli cetha 47000 iacute einbyacuteli Brottfoumlr er aacute

foumlstudoumlgum ef thornuacute aeligtlar aeth vera yfir helgina JOYCE Er haeliggt aeth baeligta aukadegi vieth STARFSMAethUR Nei thornaeth er tveggja naacutetta haacutemarksdvoumll aacute thornessu verethi JOYCE Og hvenaeligr thornarf aeth borga fargjaldieth STARFSMAethUR THORNuacute borgar 7000 kr iacute staethfestingargjald innan viku fraacute poumlntun

Fullnaethargreiethsla thornarf aeth fara fram thornremur vikum fyrir brottfoumlr JOYCE THORNakka thorneacuter kaeligrlega fyrir upplyacutesingarnar

Vocabulary notes pakkafereth (-ar -ir)

package trip

meeth haacuteltii faeligethi half board ruacutest (-ar -ir) ruin Eiriacutekur rauethi father of Leifur Eiriacuteksson settled in Greenland and founded a community there

which survived until the fourteenth century ein- tviacutebyacuteli (-s single double (room)

Gisting 159

-) baeligta (baeligtir) vieth dat add haacutemarksdvoumll (-ar -ir) maximum length of staystaethfestingargjald (-s -) deposit innan prep gen within fullnaethargreiethsla (-u -ur) final payment

Exercise 2

Study the advertisements on p189 from the brochure of the Ferethapjoacutenusta baelignda (Icelandic farm holidays) and the explanations of the various symbols

1 Which farm(s) would you choose to stay at if you were particularly interested in

a riding b hunting and fishing c cycling d going for a swim in the morning e cooking your own meals

2 Imagine you are planning to stay at one of these farms during a trip to Iceland and have decided to ring the farm of your choice to book your accommodation there How would you ask for the following information in Icelandic

1 Do they have a room available in June

2 Is it possible to book a four-day stay for one

3 You would like a made-up (uppbuacuteieth) bed if possible

4 Is there a possibility for you to cook your own meals (eldunaraethstaetha f)

5 What would the accommodation cost

6 You would like to make your reservation now

Language points

Dative of difference and comparison

In Dialogue 2 the travel agent told Joyce that her full payment was due thornremur vikum fyrir brottfoumlr The dative case (thornremur vikum) is used here and elsewhere in Icelandic to denote a difference or comparison


Aethfangadagur er einum degi fyrir joacutel Christmas Eve is one day before Christmas Hann var fimm miacutenuacutetum aacute eftir meacuter He was five minutes behind me Sumir koma alltaf nokkrum miacutenuacuteitum of seint Some people are always several minutes too late

Gisting 161

More about comparison in the next lesson

Dialogue 3

Iacute skoacutebuacuteeth

THORNoacuter needs a pair of winter boots His friend Ragnar is coming along with him to the shoe shop to advise him

AFGREIethSLUMAethUR Goacuteethan daginn get eacuteg aethstoethaeth ykkur THORNOacuteR Jaacute eacuteg er aeth leita aeth kuldaskoacutem AFGREIethSLUMAethUR Vieth eigum noacutega kuldaskoacute heacuterna til haeliggri thornessir til daeligmis eru

mjoumlg vinsaeliglir THORNOacuteR Jaacute meacuter liacutestvel thornaacute AFGREIethSLUMAethUR Viltu maacuteta thornaacute THORNOacuteR Jaacute takk AFGREIethSLUMAethUR Hvaetha nuacutemer notarethu THORNOacuteR Nuacutemer 42 THORNakka thorneacuter fyrir thorneir passa aacutegaeligtlega Hvaeth segirethu Ragnar eru thornetta

ekki flottir skoacuter RAGNAR Juacute meacuter syacutenist thornaeth THORNeir liacuteta uacutet fyrir aeth vera traustir og thornaeliggilegir AFGREIethSLUMAethUR Goacuteeth gaeligethi liacuteka og thornuacute faeligreth thornaacute aacute mjoumlg hagstaeligethu verethi thorneir kosta

aetheins 5000 kr THORNOacuteR Nuacute Uacuter thornviacute aeth eacuteg geri svona goacuteeth kaup aeligtla eacuteg aeth faacute meacuter tvenna skoacute Eacuteg er nefnilega

mjoumlg hrifinn af thornessum fjoacutelublaacuteu heacuter Eacuteg aeligtla aeth maacuteta thornaacute liacuteka IIvaeth kosta thorneir AFGREIethSLUMAethUR THORNeir kosta 12000 kr THORNOacuteR THORNaeth er fjandi dyacutert Jaeligja hvaeth um thornaeth mig vantar einmitt svona fiacutena skoacute fyrir aacuters-

haacutetiacuteethina En thornessir eru fullstoacuterir Aacutettu nuacutemeri minna AFGREIethSLUMAethUR Gjoumlrethu svo vel THORNOacuteR Jaacute thorneir virethast passa saeligmilega Hvaeth finnst thorneacuter Ragnar RAGNAR Jaacute eacuteg er sammaacutela thorneacuter thorneir eru alveg einst akir og fara thorneacuter mjoumlg vel AFGREIethSLUMAethUR Nokkueth fleira fyrir ykkur THORNOacuteR Eacuteg aeligtla aeth faacute thornrenna sokka thornessa iacutethornroacutetta- sokka heacuter THORNaacute er thornaeth komieth

Vocabulary notes get eacuteg aethstoethaeth can I help fjandi dyacuter darned acc expensive leita (leita) aeth look for hvaeth um thornaeth who cares dat aacutershaacutetieth (-ar -ir) annual maacuteta (maacuteta) acc try on celebration nuacutemer (-s -) size staff party gaeligethi npl quality full- pref very hagstaeligethur adj economical minni comp less smaller nuacute really saeligmilega adv fairly well gera goacuteeth kaup get a bargain thorneir fara thorneacuter vel they look good


vera hrifinn af be very taken on you dat infatuated with

Language points

Numerals with plural nouns

In the dialogue above THORNoacuter thinks of buying tvenna skoacute lsquotwo pairs of shoesrsquo and also purchases thornrenna sokka lsquothree pairs of socksrsquo These forms of the numbers 2 and 3 are different from the ones you already know They are used specifically when counting items which come in pairs such as hanskar lsquoglovesrsquo and plural nouns such as buxur skaeligri lsquoscissorsrsquo toacutenleikar and dyacuter These plural forms of the numbers 1ndash4 are einir tvennir thornrennir fernir and they are declined like strong adjectivesmdashonly in the plural of course Plural nouns can only ever be counted with these forms of the numerals In the case of items such as socks or gloves however the plural forms of the numerals are only used when the reference is to a pair while an individual sock or glove is counted with the ordinary form of the numeral

Exercise 3

Count the following items from 1 to 4 using the correct forms of the numerals depending on the gender of the individual nouns and whether they are plural nounspairs

Daeligmi 1 2 3 4 skoacuter einir tvennir thornrennir fernir skoacuter 1 2 3 4 gleraugu

1 2 3 4 vettlingar

1 2 3 4 skaeligri

1 2 3 4 armbandsuacuter

1 2 3 4 buxur

1 2 3 4 dyr (fpl)

Language points

More noun groups

In Lesson 4 you learned about noun declensions in Icelandic As you may have noticed since then not all nouns conform to those patterns There are various masculine and feminine nouns in particular which correspond to declension patterns that deviate in certain ways from the main pattern These will be outlined here in so far as they are relevant for daily usage Before moving on however it might be a good idea to brush up

Gisting 163

on the main declension patterns as well as on the vowel changes involved in the I-shift (Lesson 7)

Masculine nouns

There are two main subgroups for masculine noun declension The first is not so very different from the main pattern it has -ir and -i in the nominative and accusative plural where the main group has -ar and -a In addition many nouns belonging to this group (but not all) have -ar as a singular genitive ending rather than the regular masculine genitive -s So far so good but where things can get a bit tricky is that the -i endings cause an I-shift where the stem vowel of the noun is susceptible These are examples of the main patterns involved

aacutegtaelig oumlgtie and a ogty sg nom fundur baeligr thornaacutettur fjoumlrethurkoumlttur sonur acc fund baelig thornaacutett fjoumlrethkoumltt son dat fundi baelig thornaeligtti firethiketti syni gen fundar baeligjar thornaacutettar fjaretharkattar sonar pl nom fundir baeligir thornaeligttir firethirkettir synir acc fundi baeligi thornaeligtti firethiketti syni dat fundum baeligjum thornaacutettum fjoumlrethumkoumlttum sonum gen funda baeligja thornaacutetta fjarethakatta sona

There is really no way to tell whether a masculine noun belongs to the main group or this one except by looking in the dictionary You have to learn as you go The second group however can be recognized very easily It consists of nouns ending in -andi In the singular these nouns conform to the weak masculine declension pattern but in the plural -i changes to -ur in the nominative and accusative with a vowel change occurring in the preceding syllable -andigt-endur as in nemandigtnemendur

Feminine nouns

For feminine nouns too there are two main subgroups The first and largest makes its plural nominative and accusative with an -ar rather than an -ir ending To these belong a significant number of feminine nouns without an ending as well as all feminine nouns (a) of which the stem ends in -ing or (b) which have an -i ending Note that these last two also have some special features in the singular -ing nouns have a -u ending in the accusative and dative singular while nouns ending in -i change the -i for -ar in the singular genitive as well as plural nominative and accusative The second group has -ur in the plural nominative and accusative with the -u- causing a vowel shift where the stem vowel is susceptible Note that some (although not all) of the nouns with plural -ur also take -ur in the genitive singular Here are some common examples

oacutegtaelig oumlgte and asg nom laug gisting helgi viacutek boacutek oumlnd acc laug gistingu helgi viacutek boacutek oumlnd dat laug gistingu helgi viacutek boacutek oumlnd


gen laugar gistingar helgar viacutekur boacutekar andarpl nom laugar gistingar helgar viacutekur baeligkur endur acc laugar gistingar helgar viacutekur baeligkur endur dat laugum gistingum helgum viacutekum boacutekum oumlndum gen lauga gistinga helga viacuteka boacuteka anda

Finally note that there are also some feminine nouns with a stem ending -i that are indeclinable Unfortunately you cannot tell them apart from nouns like helgi so you will have to learn to recognize them yourself Among the more common ones is fraeligethi Female personal names that do not end in -a take either an -i or -u ending in the accusative and dative HildurgtHildi AacuteslauggtAacuteslaugu

Neuter nouns

Fortunately for the student of Icelandic there are very few deviating neuter nouns There are some common weak neuter nouns ending in -a which keep -a throughout the singular and have -u (plus U-shift where applicable) in the plural like augamdashaugu and hjartamdashhjoumlrtu Then there are a few nouns with stem ending eacute which changes to -jaacute in the dative and genitive plural like treacute and hneacute (trjaacutemmdashtrjaacutea and hnjaacutemmdashhnjaacutea) with the exception of hleacute (no vowel change) and feacute (no plural -jaacute in the genitive singular fjaacuter)

Exercise 4

Answer the questions below using the plural as outlined in the example

Daeligmi Aacutettu vinrarrJaacute eacuteg aacute marga vini

1 Kaupirethu aacutevoumlxt

2 Boretharethu reacutett

3 Seacuterethu iacutesbjoumlrn

4 thornekkirethu nemanda

5 Kemurethu viacuteethaacute flugvelli

6 Skoetharethu syacuteningu

7 Heyrirethu flugveacutel

8 Lestu boacutek

Gisting 165

9 Ertu meeth skemmda toumlnn

10 Ferethu iacute sundlaug

Exercise 5 Nokkrar vegalengdir iacute kiacuteloacutemetrum

Can you tell the distances between the following Icelandic places in grammatically correct Icelandic sentences (writing out or saying the numbers in full) Remember that the prepositions fraacute and til govern the dative and genitive case respectively

Daeligmi AkranesmdashHoumlfn 493 km fraacute Akranesi til Hafnar eru fjoumlgur hundrueth niacuteutiacuteu og priacuter kiacuteloacutemetrar

1 AkureyrimdashViacutek 561 km 2 BorgarnesmdashIacutesafjoumlrethur 384 km 3 GrindaviacutekmdashReykjaviacutek 52 km 4 SelfossmdashTHORNingvellir 44 km 5 KirkjubaeligjarklausturmdashEgilsstaethir 440 km 6 OacutelafsfjoumlrethurmdashAkureyri 61 km 7 THORNingvellirmdashBorgarnes 95 km

Reading 1

Hringfereth um Graelignland aacuterieth 2000

How long will the trip around Greenland be What is the occasion for the organization of the trip How much does the trip cost Whose attention has it attracted

Ferethaskrifstofa aacute Akureyri hyggst aacute aldamoacutetaaacuterinu 2000 bjoacuteetha upp aacute tveggja vikna flugfereth iacute kringum Graelignland meeth viethkomu aacute yfir tuttugu stoumlethum

THORNar mun thornaacutetttakendum gefast kostur aacute aeth sjaacute iacutesbjarnarbyggethir soumlgufraeligga firethi og njoacuteta uacutetsyacutenis yfir jakabreiethur Hringferethin um Graelignland kostar eina miljoacuten kroacutena or er skipuloumlgeth iacute tilefni af thornuacutesund aacutera landnaacutemi Inuacuteiacuteta aacute Graelignlandi

Hringferethin hefur naacuteeth athygli manna erlendis ef marka maacute uacutettekt tiacutemaritsins For Him Magazine aacute spennandi aeligvintyacuteraferethum Aacute lista yfir eitt hundraeth spennandi ferethamoumlguleika fyrir thornaacute sem vilja reyna eitthvaeth alveg nyacutett er huacuten iacute oumlethru saeligtinu

Af oumlethrum spennandi ferethum aacute listanum maacute nefna fluacuteethasiglingu niethur Ganges-fljoacutet fereth niethur aeth Titanic aacutetta maacutenaetha ruacutetufereth um Bali og hjoacutelreiethafereth um Kuacutebu

Announced in Morgunblaethieth 9 August 199856


Vocabulary notes hyggjast (hyggst) intend plan iacute tilefni af on the occasion of+inf marka (marka) take seriously ef thornaacutetttakandi participant acc marka maacute if (-a -ur) we may take gefast kostur be offered the seriously aacute dat possibility of uacutettekt (-ar -ir) appraisal study soumlgufraeliggur adj historically spennandi exciting famous adjindecl jakabreietha glacial run-off iacute oumlethru saeligtinu in second place (-u -ur) area fluacuteethir fpl rapids

Gisting 167

12 Toacutemstundir

Spare time In this lesson you will learn about

bull sports and leisure activities bull reflexive verbs and pronouns bull the middle voice bull adverbs and intensifiers making a point bull word order bull comparison bull negative pronouns ekki neinnhokkur and hvorugur emphatic negation

Dialogue 1

Iacutethornroacutettaiethkun

Joyce has been invited to a party hosted by her friend Aacuteslaug There she meets and engages in an animated conversation with Houmlskuldur and his partner Birna Why does Joyce not practise many sports Why does Houmlskuldur exercise every day What does Birna like doing after work

HOumlSKULDUR Og hvaeth gerirethu thornegar thornuacute ert ekki aeth vinna Joyce JOYCE THORNaacute fer eacuteg til Iacuteslands til aeth slappa af og hviacutela mig Eacuteg vereth aeth viethurkenna aeth eacuteg er

ekki mikieth fyrir handavinnu og er liacutetil iacutethornroacutettamanneskja nema hvaeth eacuteg syndi aacute morgnana en thornar meeth eru upptalin afskipti miacuten af iacutethornroacutettum Minn veikleiki er aeth eacuteg tek alltaf vinnuna meeth meacuter heim

HOumlSKULDUR Eacuteg er ekki mikieth spenntur fyrir iacutethornroacutettum heldur en meacuter finnst voetha gott aeth faacute uacutetraacutes meeth liacutekamlegri aacutereynslu fyrst eacuteg vinn kyrrsetustarf Meacuter liacuteethur illa thornegar eacuteg faelig ekki taeligkifaeligri til aeth hreyfa mig thorness vegna skokka eacuteg aacute hverjum degi Eacuteg vil komast iacute gott formhellip

BIRNA Og leacutettast HOumlSKULDUR Og leggja af jaacute En huacuten Birna heacuterna huacuten er mjoumlg flink iacute lyftingum og

vaxtarraeligkt og faeligst vieth handbolta liacutekahellipkeppir iacute liethi Huacuten leggur mikinn metnaeth iacute iacutethornroacutettamennsku

BIRNA Jaacute eacuteg hef oacuteskaplega gaman af aeth keppa og stunda liacutekamsraeligkt Iacutethornroacutettaaeligfingar eru oacutemissandi hluti af daglegu liacutefi miacutenu Meacuter finnst gott aeth koma heim eftir vinnudag og snuacutea meacuter aeth liacutekamsaeligfingum thornannig losna eacuteg vieth streitu Heilbrigeth saacutel iacute hraustum liacutekama

JOYCE Satt segirethu Eacuteg er bara ekki noacutegu dugleg Eacuteg er afar upptekin iacute vinnunni og maacute bara ekki vera aeth thornviacute aeth fara a aeligfingu En eacuteg er farin aeth faacute aacutehuga aacute aeth fara meira aacute goumlnguskiacuteethi thornegar eacuteg er iacute friacutei Eacuteg hyggst meira aeth segja koma aftur til Iacuteslands naeligsta vetur og taka thornaacutett iacute goumlnguskiacuteethafereth

HOumlSKULDUR THORNaacute houmlfum vieth sama aacutehugamaacutelieth Vieth Birna foumlrum gjarnan iacute goumlnguskiacuteethaferethir aacute veturna THORNuacute skalt slaacutest iacute foumlr meeth okkur

JOYCE THORNaeth vaeligri alveg ljoacutemandi taeligkifaeligri til aeth aeligfa mig betur og saeligkja iacute mig veethriethhellip BIRNA Og til aeth skemmta okkur saman

Vocabulary notes iacuteroacutettaiethkun from iethkun (-ar thornar meeth er that is the sum -ir) practice upptalinn adj of and iacutethornroacutettir vera spenntur be keen on get fpl sports fyrir dat excited about hviacutela (hviacuteli) sig rest (oneself) faacute uacutetraacutes vent release vera mikieth fyrir like a lot liacutekami (-a -ar) body acc liacutekamlegur adj bodily physicalhandavinna handiwork fyrst conj since as (knitting kyrrsetustarf sedentary work sewing needle (-s -) work etc) hreyfa (hreyfi) sig move exerciseskokka (skokka) jog oacutemissandi indispensable komast (kemst) get (oneself) adjindecl iacute gott form into shape snuacutea (snyacute) seacuter turn to leacutettastleggja lose weight aeth dat (legg) af streita (-u) stress lyfta (lyfti) dat lift (here lsquolift heilbrigethur healthy weightsrsquo) hraustur adj lyftingar fpl eacuteg maacute ekki vera I donrsquot have weight lifting aeth thornviacute the time for it vaxtarraeligkt body-building goumlnguskiacuteethi (-s -) cross-country ski(-ar) f aeth fara aacute to cross-countrylieth (-s -) team goumlnguskiacuteethi ski leggja (leggur) be very serious aacutehugamaacutel (-s -) interest hobby mikinn ambitious slaacutest (slaeligst) iacute foumlr join metnaeth iacute about saeligkja (saeligki) iacute gather strength -mennska (-u) -manship sig veethrieth

Toacutemstundir 169

Language points

Reflexive pronouns

Icelandic has many verbs that take a reflexive pronoun for their object The case of the pronoun depends on each individual verb For the first and second person singular and plural the reflexive pronoun is the same as the personal pronoun

eacuteg hreyfi mig I move (myself) vieth hviacutelum okkur we rest (ourselves) thornuacute skemmtir thorneacuter you enjoy yourself thornieth aeligfieth ykkur you train (yourselves)

The reflexive pronoun for the third person singular and plural is sig (acc)seacuter (dat)siacuten (gen) It is the same for all genders

hann rakar sig he shaves (himself) huacuten flyacutetir seacuter she hurrries (herself) barnieth greiethir seacuter the child combs (itself ie its hair)

In the imperative the reflexive pronoun remains hreyfethu thornig lsquomoversquo aeligfieth ykkur lsquopractisersquo As you can see not all verbs that are reflexive in English are reflexive in Icelandic and the other way around

In Lesson 10 you learned that with the third person singular and plural you had to use the genitive form of the personal pronoun to express possession hjoacutelieth hennar biacutellinn thorneirra However this is not always the case There is a special possessive pronoun for the third person sinn (f siacuten n sitt) declined just like minn and thorninn but it is only used when reflexive that is to say when the implied owner is also the subject of the sentence Compare the following examples

Joacuten notar hjoacutelieth sitt Joacuten uses his (=Joacutenrsquos) bike but Joacuten notar hjoacutelieth hans Joacuten uses his (=another boyrsquos) bike Mamma thornvaeligr barnieth sitt Mum washes her (own) child but Mamma thornvaeligr barnieth hennar Mum washes her (=another womanrsquos) child

Whether you use the reflexive possessive pronoun sinn or the genitive form of the personal pronoun this completely changes the meaning of the sentence


Exercise 1

The following sentences describe what Hrafn does every morning but the printer has got them mixed up Can you put them in a more logical order

1 fer iacute vinnu 5 fer aacute faeligtur 2 klaeligethir sig 6 baethar sig 3 vaknar 7 rakar sig 4 greiethir seacuter 8 burstar iacute seacuter tennurnar

Can you describe your own morning routine in Icelandic

Exercise 2

Your friendrsquos six-year-old has stayed the night with you Now you need to wake her up and get her ready for school Tell her what to do using the imperative form of the following verbs

vaknamdashfara aacute faeligturmdashthornvo seacutermdashklaeligetha sigmdashgreietha seacutermdashboretha morgunmatinnmdashbursta tennurnarmdashfara iacute skoacutelamdashgaeligta siacuten aacute biacutelunum lsquowatch out for carsrsquo

The middle voice

The middle voice is a verb form in Icelandic that is easily distinguished by its -st endings In principle the middle voice is formed by adding -st to the infinitive or conjugated verb forms as appropriate with the following changes

bull Second and third person endings -(u)r -eth and -reth are deleted bull Dentals (eth d t) are deleted before middle voice -st where deleted also in pronunciation

Examples faacute faacutest koma komast breyta breytast faelig faeligst kem kemst breyti breytist faeligreth faeligst kemur kemst breytir breytist faeligr faeligst kemur kemst breytir breytist faacuteum faacuteumst komum komumst breytum breytumstfaacuteieth faacuteist komieth komist breytieth breytist faacute faacutest koma komast breyta breytast

The middle voice is used to express the following 1 Reflexivity The middle voice can replace a reflexive pronoun as in for instance the following

Toacutemstundir 171

Barnieth meiethir sig=Barnieth meiethist the child hurts itself Hann aeligtlar aeth gifta sig=Hann aeligtlar aeth giftast He plans to get married

Note however that not all reflexive constructions can be replaced by a middle voice 2 Reciprocity The middle voice can add the meaning of lsquoeach otherrsquo to a main verb

Joacuten kveethur Pal og Paacutell kveethur Joacuten=Joacuten og Paacutell kveethjast Joacuten and Paacutell take leave of each other THORNoacuter hittir Houmlrpu og Harpa hittir THORNoacuter=THORNoacuter og Harpa hittast THORNoacuter and Harpa meet each other Kjartan talar vieth Sif og Sif talar vieth Kjartan=Kjartan og Sif talast

vieth Kjartan and Sif talk to each other Vieth sjaacuteumst (lit lsquoWersquoll see each otherrsquo)

3 Separate meaning or only existing form of the verb The middle voice can give a verb a different meaning altogether

koma come komast get there taka take takast work succeedgera do gerast happen

The middle voice often occurs in prepositional phrases andor sayings as we saw for instance in Dialogue 1 faacutest vieth lsquotake onrsquo lsquotacklersquo slaacutest iacute hoacutepinn lsquojoinrsquo Another example buacuteast vieth (dat) lsquoto expectrsquo The middle voice is also common in impersonal constructions such as meacuter finnst and meacuter leiethist In some cases the middle voice is the only existing form of a verb as is the case with for instance ferethast lsquotravelrsquo and naacutelgast lsquoapproachrsquo

4 Passive This use of the middle voice will be dealt with in the next lesson

Exercise 3

Fill in the blanks with the correct middle voice form of the verbs in brackets

1 Hvaeth er aeth _______ (gera) heacuter 2 Barninu _______ (leietha) heimaverkefnin 3 Kemur hann braacuteethum Eacuteg _______ (buacutea) vieth thornviacute 4 Aacutehugamaacutel hans _______ (breyta) stoumlethugt 5 Flugveacutelin _______ (naacutelgast) flugvoumlllinn 6 Honum _______ (finna) erfitt aeth _______ (venja) toumllvum 7 Meacuter _______ (syacutena) veethrieth veretha gott iacute dag 8 Iacuteslendingar sem _______ (thornekkja) _______ (kyssa) thornegar thorneir _______ (hitta)


Dialogue 2

Aacutehugamaacutel

At Aacuteslaugrsquos party THORNoacuter and Harpa are talking about their interests with Kjartan and Sif from Vopnafjoumlrethur in Eastern Iceland What instrument would Kjartan like to play What kind of music does Harpa like Does Sif get the chance to go to the theatre in Vopnafjoumlrethur

KJARTAN IIvaeth segirethu THORNoacuter ertu aeth laeligra aacute selloacute THORNOacuteR Jaacute eacuteg saeligki selloacutetiacutema iacute toacutenlistarskoacutelanum Leikurethu aacute hljoacuteethfaeligri KJARTAN Nei en mig langar aeth laeligra thornaeth THORNOacuteR Hvaetha hljoacuteethfaeligri heillar thornig mest KJARTAN Eacuteg heillast helst af piacuteanoacuteihellip SIF Og dundar seacuter oft vieth piacuteanioacuteieth hans afa og reynir aeth kenna sjaacutelfum seacuter aeth spila KJARTAN En thornuacute Harpa heldur thornuacute mikieth upp aacute toacutenlist HARPA Jaacute eacuteg geri thornaeth svo sannarlega Eacuteg nyacutet liacutefsins helst thornegar eacuteg hlusta aacute klassiacuteska

djass eetha bluacutes toacutenlist Toacutenlist er iacute miklu uppaacutehaldi aacute okkar heimili HARPA Hver eru thorniacuten aacutehugamaacutel Sif SIF Eacuteg hef mikinn aacutehuga aacute mynd og leiklist THORNOacuteR THORNuacute faeligreth thornaacute sennilega ekki oft taeligkifaeligri til aeth sinna aacutehugamaacutelum thorniacutenum thornarna aacute

Vopnafirethi SIF Oftara en foacutelk heldur Aacutehuginn er aeth aukast meethal foacutelks aacute staethnum til aeth taka sig

saman og skipuleggja yacutemislegt thornaeth er afar oumlflugt feacutelagsliacutef og siacuteethastliethieth vor var til daeligmis mikieth um aeth vera

THORNOacuteR Eins og SIF Eins og thornorrabloacutet aacutershaacutetiacuteethir starfsemi koacutersins og leikfeacutelagsins myndlistarsyacutening

Erroacutes dansleikir prjoacutenakluacutebburinnhellip HARPA THORNaeth kemur aacute oacutevart SIF THORNaeth er mikil thornoumlrf fyrir tilbreytingu thornviacute aacute veturna er mun dyacuterara fyrir okkur aeth fara aacute

leiksyacuteningar iacute Reykjaviacutek heldur en foacutelk sem byacuter aacute Akureyri eetha Egilsstoumlethum

Vocabulary notes hljoethfaeligri (-s -) musical

instrument svo sannarlega adv

absolutely definitely

heilla (heillar) enchant attract myndlist (-ar) f visual arts acc leiklist (-ar) f drama theatre dunda (dunda) play about busy sennilega adv probably seacuter vieth acc oneself with sinna (sinni) dat attend to halda mikieth like very much aukast (eykst) increase upp aacute acc oumlflugur adj strong powerful

koacuter (-s -ar) choir prjoacutenakluacutebbur knitting clubErroacute one of the most (-s -ar) important and koma (einhverjum) surprise

Toacutemstundir 173

innovative aacute oacutevart (someone) twentieth-century mun dyacuterara quite a lot Icelandic visual dearer artists dansleikur dance (-ar -ir)

Language points

Adverbs and intensifiers

Adverbs are among the easier aspects of Icelandic for the learner as they are not declined and are fairly easy to construct The following are the main points to keep in mind about adverbs in Icelandic

1 Adverbs can be derived from verbs nouns or adjectives Most end in -lega venja customrarrvenjulega customarilyhugsa think rarrhugsanlega conceivablynyacuter new rarrnyacutelega lately

2 The position of the adverb in a regular sentence (ie a direct affirmative sentence where the word order is subjectmdashverb(s)mdash(prep)mdashobject) is

bull after the conjugated (modal) verb amma saknar oft straacuteksinshellip bull if the verb takes two objects the adverb goes in between afi gefur kroumlkkunum oft

saeliglgaeligti bull if the object is a pronoun not governed by a prepositional phrase the pronoun takes

precedence huacuten saknar hans oft lsquoshe often misses himrsquo bull when the adverb qualifies an adjective or other adverb it will precede that part of

speech eacuteg fer aeth hitta aacutekoflega thornreyttan mann lsquoI am going to meet a very tired manrsquo vieth erum ekki oft heima lsquowe arenrsquot often homersquo

bull finally like adverbial phrases adverbs also occur at the end of a sentence huacuten syngur lagieth aacutegaeligtlega lsquoshe sings the song quite wellrsquo

3 Some common adverbs that do not end in -lega are goacuteethurrarrvel snemma early braacuteethum soon vondurrarrilla varla hardly sjaldan seldom seinnrarrseint svo(na) so thus afarmjoumlg very hraethurrarrhratt gjarna(n) gladly stundum sometimeshaeliggurrarrhaeliggt nuacutena now alveg quite ansi byacutesna pretty frekar rather harla extremely fjandi darned

Intensifiers


Adverbs are often used as intensifiers particularly in daily speech and can be very useful tools for the learner with an as yet limited vocabulary to make a point express an emotional reaction or simply to lsquospice uprsquo onersquos speech a little Aside from the more neutral intensifying mjoumlg afar and alveg many popular stronger intensifiers are based on adjectives and nouns which express an intensified emotion or state of being You already encountered some in Lesson 8 Here are some more

voethi danger rarrvoetha(lega) thornetta er voetha(lega) skemmtilegt hraeligetha frighten rarrhraeligethilega hann syngur lagieth hraeligethilega illa oacuteskoumlp something awfulrarroacuteskaplega (oacuteskoumlp) thornaeth var oacuteskaplegaoacuteskoumlp indaeligltaacutekafur enthusiastic rarraacutekaflega hann er aacutekaflega thornreyttur ferlegur monstrous rarrthornau eru ferlega faacutetaeligk oacutetruacutelegur unbelievable rarrbarnieth er oacutetruacutelega klaacutert

Note that with certain adjectives that already have a very strong meaning (such as yndislegur lsquodelightful stoacuterbrotinn lsquomagnificentrsquo goacutemsaeligtur lsquodeliciousrsquo) intensifiers are not really used with the notable exception of alveg

Exercise 4

The following is a description of an Icelandic holiday impression Imagine it is yours and you want to spice it up a bit to make sure that your Icelandic friends know just how much you have enjoyed their country Can you add the necessary intensifiers at the making sure to create effect without overdoing it or becoming too repetitive

Landslagieth er fallegt loftieth er hreint og foacutelkieth indaeliglt THORNaeth er mikieth aeth gera fallegar goumlnguleiethir alls staethar og skemmtilegt er aeth fara iacute hestaferethir aacute sumrin eetha skiacuteethaferethir aacute veturna THORNaeth er liacuteka gaman aeth fara iacute sund sundlaugarnar eru goacuteethar og heitu pottarnir yndislegir() Maturinn er liacuteka goacuteethur og THORNaeth eru margir fiacutenir veitingastaethir iacute Reykjaviacutek Svo eru moumlrg og aacutehugavereth soumlfn og galleriacute iacute houmlfuethborginni sem er gott seacuterstaklega af thornviacute aeth veethrieth getur stundum verieth leiethinlegt THORNaeth versta er bara hvaeth allt er dyacutert

Vocabulary notes heitur pottur

hot pot (Icelandic swimming pools all have at least onelsquohot potrsquo filled with water up to 42degC to sit in and relax They are very popular with Icelanders and foreigners alike and often also function as a social gathering point)

Toacutemstundir 175

Reading 1

Besta foacutetboltastelpan

Huacuten skoraethi glaeligsilegt mark iacute fyrri landsleik Iacuteslendinga og Englendinga haustieth 1994 og var thornar meeth buacutein aeth sanna aeth huacuten er ein helsta knattspyrnukona Iacuteslands Margreacutet Oacutelafsdoacutettir var kjoumlrin efnilegasti leikmaethur aacutersins 1993 og besti leikmaethurinn 1994 Huacuten er baeligethi iacute landsliethinu U 20 og iacute aethalliethinu en huacuten kippir seacuter augsyacutenilega ekki upp vieth velgengnina og telur mikilvaeliggt aeth ofmetnast ekki Margreacutet stundar naacutem vieth Verslunarskoacutela Iacuteslands en ver mestu af friacutetiacutema siacutenum iacute foacutetboltaaeligfingar THORNegar Margreacutet er spureth hvaeth seacute svona heillandi vieth foacutetboltann nefnir huacuten feacutelagsskapinn lsquoMeacuter finnst svo gaman aeth spila foacutetboltarsquo baeligtir huacuten vieth og brosir lsquoTHORNaeth fer auethvitaeth mikill tiacutemi iacute aeligfingar en eacuteg held goacuteethu sambandi vieth vini miacutenahelliprsquo Margreacutet seacuter framtiacuteethina fyrir seacuter aacutefram iacute foacutetboltanum Hana langar aeth fara til uacutetlanda og laeligra meira iacute foacutetbolta THORNyacuteskaland eetha Norethurloumlndin eru ofarlega iacute huga hennar en huacuten hefur ekki kynnt seacuter hvar haeliggt er aeth komast iacute atvinnumennsku iacute knattspyrnu Hvaeth thornarf til aeth veretha svona goacuteeth knattspyrnukona lsquoTHORNaeth thornarf til aeth leggja aacute sig mikla aacutestundun aeligfa af fullum krafti og lifa heilbrigethu liacutefi Einnig er nauethsynlegt aeth skipuleggja tiacutemann vel til aeth komast yfir baeligethi aeligfingar og naacutemrsquo segir Margreacutet og baeligtir vieth aeth foreldrar hennar eru einnig mikieth iacutethornroacutettafoacutelk

Abridged from Eliacutesabet thornorgeirsdoacutettir lsquoBesta foacutetboltastelpanrsquo Nyacutett liacutef 817 (1994)94

Vocabulary notes skoraethi past tense of skora score landsleikur (-s -ir) international match kjoumlrinn adj elected leik-maethur (-manns -menn) player kippa (kippi) seacuter ekki upp vieth acc be unaffected by ofmetnast (ofmetnast) become arrogant Verslunarskoacuteli Iacuteslands business school in Reykjaviacutek verja (ver) dat use spend spurethur adj asked ofarlega adv high up in the forefront aacutestundun (-ar) f diligence kraftur (-s -ar) force komast (komast) yfir acc get a grip on gain possession of


Exercise 5

Can you tell if the following statements about the text above are right or wrong Reacutett Rangt1 Margreacutet Oacutelafsdoacutettir hefur ofmetnast

2 Huacuten er ekki lengur iacute skoacutela

3 Huacuten heillast af knattspyrnu

4 Allur tiacutemi hennar fer iacute foacutetboltaaeligfingar

5 Huacuten hefur aacutehuga aacute aeth laeligra meira iacute foacutetbolta

6 Huacuten er aacutekveethin aeth fara til THORNyacuteskalands eetha Norethurlanda

7 THORNaeth er mikilvaeliggt aeth lifa heilbrigethu liacutefi

8 THORNaeth er ekki haeliggt aeth stunda baeligethi naacutem og foacutetboltaaeligfingar

Language points

Comparative and superlative

The comparative and superlative forms of adjectives are formed by adding an appropriate ending to the stem of the adjective

Comparative lsquomorersquo

The basic comparative ending is -(a)ri riacutekurrarrriacutekari bjartur rarrbjartari Note however the following changes that may occur

1 Adjectives with a two-syllable stem lose the second stem vowel fyndinnrarrfyndnari Exceptions include adjectives ending in -legur which become -legri fallegurrarrfallegri

2 With adjectives ending in -ll or nn (but not -inn as under 1) the comparative -r is assimilated into -l or -n fiacutennrarrfiacutenni saeligllrarrsaeliglli

3 Adjectives of which the stem ends in a vowel take double -r graacuterrarrgraacuterri 4 I-shift may occur where stem vowels are susceptible faacuterrarr faeligrri stoacuterrarrstaeligrri

langurrarrlengri ungurrarryngri

The comparative ending -i remains the same for all genders and cases in the singular and the plural except the neuter singular where it changes to -a

gjoumlfin er dyacuterarimdashhuacutesieth er dyacuterara

The conjunction thornviacutehellipthornviacute is used with the comparative in Icelandic where English uses lsquothehellipthersquo thornviacute meira thornviacute betra lsquothe more the betterrsquo

Toacutemstundir 177

Superlative

The basic superlative ending is -astur riacutekurmdashriacutekarimdashriacutekastur bjarturmdashbjartarimdashbjartastur fyndinnmdashfyndnarimdashfyndnastur fallegurmdashfallegrimdashfallegastur fiacutennmdashfiacutennimdashfiacutenastur saeligllmdashsaeliglli- saeliglastur graacutermdashgraacuterrimdashgraacuteastur

Note however the following

1 -j- insertion occurs between -aelig- or -yacute- and -astur nyacutermdashnyacuterrimdashnyacutejastur 2 Many adjectives subject to the I-shift only take -stur faeligstur staeligrstur lengstur

yngstur

Unlike the comparative superlative adjectives are declined according to the regular strong or weak declension patterns The -a- in -ast ur is subject to a U-shift biacutellinn hans er dyacuterastur gjoumlfin hennar er dyacuterust Note too that superlatives tend to get the strong declension in nominal predicates and the weak one in other positions

hann er sterkasturmdashhann er sterkasti maethur heims

The following adjectives have irregular comparatives and superlatives goacuteethur betri bestur slaeligmurvondur verri verstur mikill meiri mestur liacutetill minni minnsturmargir fleiri flestir gamall eldri elstur

Adjectives which only exist in the comparative and superlative naeligrri naeligstur nearest fyrri fyrstur first earlier siacuteethari siacuteethastur later last efri efstur uppermost neethri neethstur lowermost skaacuterri skaacutestur a little betterbest of a bad thing

Finally indeclinable adjectives mostly those ending in a vowel (notably -andi) do not have comparative and superlative forms Instead the adverbs meira and mest are used

A few more things about adverbs

1 The adverbs used to qualify the comparative and superlative are miklu and lang- or al- respectively hann er miklu riacutekari en eacuteg en huacuten er langriacutekusts Instead of miklu mun is also found (see Dialogue 2)

2 Some adverbs can in themselves occur in comparative and superlative forms These forms correspond to those of adjectives -(a)ra and -(a)st

Hann hleypur lengra en eacuteg en huacuten hleypur lengst af oumlllum


The following are irregular comparative and superlative adverbs vel betur bestilla verr verstmjoumlg meir(a) mestsnemma fyrr fyrstvarla siacuteethur siacutest gjarna(n) heldur helst

Similarity and dissimilarity

When comparing dissimilarities Icelandic uses the conjunction en lsquothanrsquo hann er staeligrri en eacuteg When comparing similarities you can use jafn plus og or the dative case or eins followed by og lsquoashellip asrsquo huacuten er jafnstoacuter meacuter or huacuten er eins stoacuter og eacuteg=vieth erum jafnstoacuterar lsquowe are the same heightrsquo Sem is also found sterkur sem naut lsquostrong as an oxrsquo

For things that are alike there is liacutekur (strong adjective) plus dative case hann er liacutekur pabba siacutenum lsquohersquos like his dadrsquo For things that are the same you can use sama (og) lsquothe same (as)rsquo (weak adjective declension) or eins lsquothe samersquo

Enginn er eins No one person is the same THORNaeth er sama sagan heacuter Itrsquos the same story here Meacuter er sama Itrsquos all the same to me I donrsquot care

Exercise 6

Arrange the following in order of size as suggested by the prompt and express this in the form of a sentence using the comparative and superlative The last three have no set answer

Daeligmi skemmtilegur Charlie Chaplin Goldie Hawn Mr Bean Chaplin er skemmtilegur Goldie Hawn er skemmtilegri en Mr Bean er alskemmtilegastur

stoacuter Iacutesland Frakkland Kanada liacutetill koumlttur fugl muacutes gamall Mick Jagger Boris Jeltsin Joacuten Paacutell II haacuter Hallgriacutemskirkja (Rrsquoviacutek) Eiffelturninn (Paris) Frelsisstyttan (New York)thornungur tiacuteu kiacuteloacute fimmtiacuteu kiacuteloacute hundraeth kiacuteloacute

erfiethur maacutelfraeligethi staeligrethfraeligethi leikfimi ungur moacuteethir

miacuten broacuteethirsystir eacuteg

goacuteethurvondur appelsiacutena suacutekkulaethi iacutes

Language points

Negative pronouns

Toacutemstundir 179

Earlier you encountered the negative pronoun enginn the opposite of einhver and allur (Lesson 8) as well as nokkur in anticipation of a negative answer (Lesson 11) Aside from these the constructions ekki neinn and ekki nokkur are rather common in Icelandic They are in fact fully interchangeable with enginn with ekki nokkur being slightly stronger in meaning than the other two There are two exceptions

1 Ekki neinn can never be used as the subject of a sentence enginn er heima ekki neinn er heima

2 Enginn should not be used after prepositional phrases huacuten talar vieth engan huacuten talar ekki vieth neinn

Note the placement of the preposition Instead of ekki it is also possible to have aldrei (never) or hvergi (nowhere) in these

constructions Finally neinn is declined exactly like the numeral einn The negative counterpart to the dual pronoun baacuteethir is hvorugur lsquoneitherrsquo usually

found in the singular and declined like a strong adjective Hvorugur can be followed by a singular noun with the definite article or by a plural noun or pronoun in the genitive (partitive)

Eru baacuteethir straacutekarnir uacuteti Nei hvorugur straacutekurinn er uacuteti or hvorugur straacutekannathorneirra er uacuteti

The gender of hvorugur depends on the noun it stands with while its case depends on its position in the sentence

The Icelandic counterpart to lsquononersquo is enginn or ekki neinn followed by the appropriate noun or pronoun in the genitive eru allir straacutekarnir uacuteti Nei enginn straacutekannathorneirra er uacuteti The Icelandic for lsquonothellipeitherrsquo is ekki (hellip) heldur AEligtlar huacuten uacutet Nei og eacuteg aeligtla ekki uacutet heldur (or eacuteg aeligtla heldur ekki uacutet)

Emphatic negation

Emphatic negation can be expressed first of all by changing the position of the negative adverb to the beginning or end of a sentence as in the following

eacuteg aeligtla ekki aeth fara thornangaethmdashekki aeligtla eacuteg aeth fara thornangaeth Eacuteg kaupi ekki boacutekinamdasheacuteg kaupi boacutekina ekki

Ekki neinn or ekki nokkur can be replaced by ekki einn einasti for emphasis

Huacuten talar ekki vieth einn einasta mann She doesnrsquot talk to a single person

Other expressions of emphatic negation are aldrei framar lsquonever againrsquo aldrei aacute aeligvinni lsquonever in my lifersquo thornaeth kemur ekki til greinamaacutela lsquoitrsquos out of the questionrsquo


engan veginn lsquono wayrsquo alveg uacutetilokaeth(ur) lsquoout of the questionrsquo The following expressions contain a negation but are actually emphatically affirmative enginn vafi (aacute thornviacute) lsquono doubt (about it)rsquo eflausvafalaus lsquodoubtlessrsquo engin spurning lsquono question about itrsquo

Reading 2

Laacutettu thorneacuter liacuteetha vel

Why is lifestyle important How can we reduce stress How do most of us get to work What kinds of exercise can most of us practise

Heilsuefling og velliacuteethan hefjast hjaacute okkur Liacutefsstiacutell hefur veruleg aacutehrif aacute thornaeth hvernig okkur liacuteethur baeligethi andlega og liacutekamlega en vieth berum aacutebyrgeth aacute eigin liacutefsstiacutel Flestir okkar njoacuteta ekki friacutestunda en hviacuteld er jafn mikilvaeligg og aacutereynsla Vieth stuethlum aeth velliacuteethan meeth thornviacute aeth laacuteta haeligfileika okkar njoacuteta siacuten iacute starfi og leik og faacute uacutetraacutes fyrir skoumlpunargleethi iacute vinnu og toacutemstundum Streita veldur moumlrgum erfiethleikum en thornegar vieth laeligrum aeth slaka aacute til daeligmis meeth toacutenlist eetha iacutehugun og faacuteum uacutetraacutes fyrir spennu meeth liacutekamlegri aacutereynslu finnum vieth minna fyrir streitu Vieth keyrum flestir iacute vinnu heldur en aeth ganga eetha hjoacutela og gefum okkur varla eetha engan tiacutema fyrir daglega hreyfingu liacutekamsraeligkt eetha toacutem til friacutestunda Hreyfing og iacutethornroacutettaiethkun er holl fyrir liacutekama og saacutel og oumlll hreyfing allt fraacute leacutettri goumlngu til thornungra iacutethornroacutettaaeligfinga hefur goacuteeth aacutehrif aacute liacutekamann og einnig aacute andlega streitu thornviacute vieth thornaeth losnar um spennu Vieth verethum aeth hreyfa okkur reglulega og thornetta verethur aeth vera hluti af daglegu liacutefi THORNaeth er naeligstum oumlllum haeliggt aeth stunda goumlngu eetha sund Byrjaethu haeliggt og byggethu upp smaacutett og smaacutett

Vocabulary notes stuethla (stuethla) work for help heilsuefling increasing onersquos aeth dat achieve (-ar -ar) health something velliacuteethan (-ar) f well-being meeth thornviacute aeth by (helliping) hafa aacutehrif aacute acc have influence on infvb andlega adv mentally skoumlpunargleethi creative joy spiritually findecl bera aacutebyrgeth aacute be responsible valda erfiethleikum cause difficultiesdat for finna (finn) feel (something)njoacuteta (nyacutet) siacuten use to full fyrir dat capacity come into onersquos own

Toacutemstundir 181

13 Iacutesland Iceland


bull Icelandic geography bull present and past participles bull impersonal passive construction of intransitive verbsbull enjoying the outdoors bull pro-forms bull weather and wind directions bull passive use of the middle voice

Reading 1

Iacutesland

Does the President live in Reykjaviacutek How is hot water utilized What is the climate like What is so special about THORNingvellir Iacutesland var byggt aacute niacuteundu oumlld og var Ingoacutelfur Arnarson fyrsti iacuteslenski

landnaacutemsmaethurinn Lyacuteethveldieth Iacutesland er taeligplega 60 aacutera gamalt Forsetinn byacuter aacute Bessastoumlethum aacute Aacutelftanesi fyrir sunnan Reykjaviacutek Helstu atvinnuvegir hafa verieth sjaacutevaruacutetvegur og landbuacutenaethur en siacutevaxandi fjoumlldi foacutelks starfar vieth thornjoacutenustu og viethskipti

Iacutesland er fjoumllloacutett og aacute sumum haeligstu fjoumlllunum eru joumlklar Staeligrsti joumlkullinn er Vatnajoumlkull sem er jafnstoacuter Luacutexemborg THORNaeth eru einnig margar aacuter og moumlrg voumltn aacute Iacuteslandi og viacuteetha iacute aacutem eru fallegir fossar eins og Dettifoss staeligrsti foss Evroacutepu Iacute aacutenum er liacuteka mikieth af laxi og silungi sem moumlrgum thornykir gaman aeth veietha THORNaeth er hins vegar liacutetieth af trjaacutem aacute Iacuteslandi

Inn iacute landieth ganga margir firethir og viacutekur nema aacute suethurstroumlndinni thornar sem eru miklir sandar Iacute hafinu umhverfis Iacutesland eru auethug fiskimieth og viacuteetha eru goacuteethar hafnir Eldfjoumlllin aacute Iacuteslandi eru moumlrg og sum thorneirra eru virk Fraeliggasta eldfjallieth er vafalaust Hekla sem gaus siacuteethast aacuterieth 2000

Viacuteetha aacute Iacuteslandi eru laugar (thornegar vatnieth sem kemur upp uacuter joumlrethinni er volgt) og hverir (thornegar vatnieth kemur upp sjoacuteethandi) THORNekktasti goshver aacute Iacuteslandi er Geysir og eru goshverir iacute moumlrgum erlendum tungumaacutelum kenndir vieth hann Heita vatnieth er notaeth aacute yacutemsan haacutett meethal annars iacute sundlaugar sem eru viacuteetha um land og fara margir iacute sund aacute hverjum degi allt aacuterieth Flest huacutes aacute Iacuteslandi eru hitueth upp meeth heitu vatni sem og groacuteethurhuacutesin Gufan er notueth til aeth framleietha rafmagn en einnig eru sumar stoacuterar og straumthornungar aacuter virkjaethar til rafmagnsframleiethslu

THORNaeth er ekki eins kalt aacute Iacuteslandi og margir halda en veethraacutettan er oacutestoumlethug og oft er margs konar veethur sama daginn Aacute haacutelendinu er kaldara en niethri aacute laacuteglendi og vieth strendur og thornar er liacutetill groacuteethur Vegna veethurs eru samgoumlngur sums staethar stundum erfiethar og oft er oacutefaeligrt mikinn hluta vetrar Flogieth er til flestra kaupstaetha

THORNingvellir eru fraeliggasti soumlgustaethur aacute Iacuteslandi Aacuterieth 930 var thornar stofnaeth Althorningi og var fundaeth thornar aacuterlega thornangaeth til Iacutesland vareth hluti norska konungsriacutekisins (1262ndash4) En thornar er liacuteka mikil og seacuterstaeligeth naacutettuacuterufegureth THORNingvellir voru friethaethir og gerethir aeth thornjoacuteethgarethi aacuterieth 1928

Vocabulary notes atvinnuvegur (-s -ir) industry area of employment landbuacutenaethur (-ar) m agriculture siacutevaxandi adjindecl ever-increasing fjoumllloacutettur adj mountainous (from fjall (-s -) mountain)aacute (-r -r) f river vatn (-s -) lake fiskimieth (-s -) fishing grounds virkur adj active functioning fraeliggur adj famous gjoacutesa (gyacutes gaus gosieth) erupt kenna (kenni kennt) vieth acc name for name after framleietha (framleiethi framleitt) acc produce framleiethsla (-u) production

rafmagn (-s) n electricity straumthornungur adj fast-flowing with a strong current virkja (virkja virkjaeth) acc utilize hydroelectricgeothermal power oacutestoumlethugur adj unsteady unstable variable samgoumlngur fpl transport between places communications oacutefaeligr adj impassable incapable oft er oacutefaeligrt often the roads are impassable soumlgustaethur (-ar -ir) historical site friethaethur adj declared a national monument protected areathornjoacuteethgarethur (-s -ar) national park

Language points

Present participles

These are formed by adding the suffix -andi to the stem of a verb They can be used in four different ways

1 Adjectives thornaeth er mjoumlg spennandi boacutek lsquoitrsquos a very exciting thrilling bookrsquo 2 Adverbs hann er rennandi blautur lsquohe is soaking wetrsquo

Iacutesland 183

3 Verbs barnieth er sofandi en mamman er vakandi lsquothe child is sleeping but the mother is wakingrsquo

4 Nouns huacuten er nemandi iacute Iacuteslensku fyrir byrjendur lsquoshersquos a student in Icelandic for beginnersrsquo

Note that present participles are indeclinable as adjectives As nouns they are declined as weak masculine nouns with an irregular -endur ending (see Lesson 9)

Past participles

These are slightly more complex as their form depends on which group the verb belongs to

-a- group the past participle ends in -aeth or -ast in the middle voice talamdashtalaeth borethamdashborethaeth friethamdashfriethaeth kallastmdashkallast -i-

group past participle ends in -t in the middle voice the -t is dropped before -st

sendamdashsent haeligttamdashhaeligtt reykjamdashreykt kyssastmdashkysst heyrastmdashheyrst all other groups past participle ends in -ieth often with a vowel change

in the stem skiljamdashskilieth fremjamdashframieth brjoacutetamdashbrotieth faacutemdashfengieth lesamdashlesieth Middle voice -ist brjoacutetastmdashbrotist buacuteastmdashbuacuteist

The vowel changes that occur in past participles are not always regular The following is a rough indication intended to help you along

Stem vowel PP vowel -ur- group -e- -a- semjamdashsamieth (and some -ja verbs from -i-) -yyacute- -uuacute- flyacutejamdashfluacuteieth strong verbs -iacute- -i- biacutetamdashbitieth -joacutejuacuteuacute- -o- fljuacutegamdashflogieth -e(j)a- -o- gjaldamdashgoldieth -i- -ue- finnamdashfundieth sitjamdashsetieth -e- -e- lesamdashlesieth gefamdashgefieth

Not all verbs correspond to this pattern but you will quickly pick up the most common ones

Past participles as adjectives

When used as adjectives past participles adapt their form to the gender of the (pro)noun they qualify The gender forms are as follows


Masc Fem Neut 1 -aethur -ueth -aeth kallaethur-koumlllueth-kallaeth 2 -ethdtur -ethdt -t gerethur-gereth-gert (for choice of -eth -d or -t follow the rules for imperative suffixes)3 -inn -in -ieth brotinn-brotin-brotieth

-a- and -i- groups are declined like regular adjectives ending in -ur The others are declined like adjectives ending in -inn which are subject to fraction in some cases (eg opinn see Grammar Summary)

Impersonal passive of intransitive verbs

Impersonal constructions are common in Icelandic You already encountered one variant in Lesson 8 Passive constructions too are much more common in Icelandic than say in English They are used when the agent of the action expressed by the verb is of minor or no importance ie who lsquodoesrsquo something does not really matter What in fact characterizes the passive voice is that the object of the verb becomes the subject of the sentence followed by the appropriate form of vera and the past participle (in its neuter form) But what if it is a verb that does not take an object so that there is nothing to take the role of subject In Icelandic that is not a problem you just make do without a proper subject This can be achieved in two different ways

1 The word order is changed so that the subject slot left empty is filled by another part of speech for instance an adverb or adverbial phrase

Vieth biethum lengirarr(hellipvar beethieth lengi)rarrlengi var beethieth lsquothe wait was longrsquo

THORNau fljuacutega ekki thornangaethrarr(helliper ekki flogieth thornangaeth)rarr thornangaeth er ekki flogiethekki er flogieth thornangaeth lsquothere are no flights (to) therersquo

2 The dummy subject thornaeth is used to fill the subject slot

Vieth biethum lengirarr(hellipvar beethieth lengi)rarrpaeth var beethieth lengi THORNau fljuacutega ekki thornangaethrarr(helliper ekki flogieth thornangaeth)rarrthornaeth er ekki

flogieth thornangaeth

These impersonal constructions with dummy thornaeth are particularly common in daily speech with prepositional phrases and are often very difficult to translate directly into English

THORNaeth er gert vieth huacutesieth The house is being fixed upTHORNaeth er horft alltof mikieth aacute People watch too much sjoacutenvarpieth television

Iacutesland 185

Exercise 1

Find all participles in Reading 1 Are they present or past participles How are they used In what form do they occur and why

Exercise 2

Turn each of the following active sentences into two impersonal passive ones once using thornaeth and once by changing the word order Daeligmi Vieth reykjum ekki aacute thornessu heimilirarrthornaeth er ekki reykt aacute thornessu heimilimdashAacute thornessu heimili er ekki reykt

1 THORNeir tala mikieth iacute siacutemann 2 THORNau vaka alla noacutettina 3 THORNaeligr gista oft aacute hoacuteteli 4 Vieth hlaeligjum aeth thornessu (-aeligj-rarr-eg-) 5 Vieth hlustum aldrei aacute freacutettirnar 6 Vieth doumlnsum mikieth iacute veislunni

Dialogue 1

Uacutetivist

Richard phones up the Iacuteslenskir Fjallaleiethsoumlgumenn who specialize in outdoors trips to ask about guided tours into the Icelandic interior How long does Richard want to go for What level is he looking for Does he need to rent a special car

RICHARD Goacuteethan daginn mig langar aeth faacute upplyacutesingar um bakpokaferethir inn iacute oacutebyggethir sem standa til loka juacuteliacute Eacuteg vereth aacute Iacuteslandi iacute tvaeligr vikur og hef aacutehuga aacute aeth fara iacute nokkra daga goumlngufereth meeth ykkur ef haeliggt er

LEIethSOumlGN Jaacute thornaeth er haeliggt THORNaacute bjoacuteethum vieth td upp aacute fjoumlgurra daga fereth fraacute Nuacutepsstaetharskoacutegum inn iacute Djuacutepaacuterdal aacute Suethausturlandi

RICHARD Hvaeth er ferethin erfieth LEIethSOumlGN Huacuten er miethlungserfieth THORNuacute thornarft helst aeth vera iacute saeligmilega goacuteethu formi og hafa

eitthvaeth stundaeth goumlnguferethir RICHARD THORNaeth hentar aacutegaeligtlega Getur thornuacute sagt meacuter aetheins meira fraacute ferethinni hvenaeligr

huacuten verethur hvar huacuten byrjar og um hvaetha svaeligethi er gengieth LEIethSOumlGN Sjaacutelfsagt Ferethin byrjar iacute Skaftafelli THORNaethan er ekieth aeth Nuacutepsaacute og farieth yfir

aacutena aacute ferjubaacutet og siacuteethan ekieth iacute Nuacutepsstaetharskoacutega Svo er gengieth meethfram Nuacutepsaacutergljuacutefrum og tjaldaeth vieth Smalavaeth Naeligsta dag er gengieth aeth Graelignaloacuteni og thornaethan vestur Beinadal Aacute thornriethja degi er gengieth aeth Djuacutepaacute Fjoacuteretha daginn goumlngum vieth til suethurs meethfram giljum og fossum niethur iacute Djuacutepaacuterdal og skoethum Djuacuteparfoss og Fossabrekku aacuteethur en komieth er iacute byggeth Ferethin endar meeth grillveislu iacute Skaftafelli

RICHARD Meacuter liacutest mjoumlg vel aacute thornetta Nuacute vereth eacuteg iacute Reykjaviacutek eftir eacuteg kem til landsins Hvaeth er langt aeth keyra iacute Skaftafell

LEIethSOumlGN THORNaeth eru um thornaeth bil 400 kiacuteloacutemetrar eftir thornjoacuteethveginum


RICHARD Er vegurinn faeligr venjulegum biacutelum eetha aeligtti eacuteg helst aeth leigja fjoacuterhjoacuteladrifinnbiacutel

LEIethSOumlGN Nei nei thornaeth er allt iacute lagi aeth koma aacute venjulegum biacutel RICHARD Hvaetha uacutetbuacutenaeth aacute eacuteg aeth taka meeth iacute ferethina LEIethSOumlGN Eacuteg skal taka niethur heimilisfangieth thornitt og setja uacutetbuacutenaetharlista iacute poacutest til thorniacuten

Vocabulary notes oacutebyggeth (-ar -ir) wilderness uninhabited area vs byggeth inhabitedcultivated area standa (stendmdashstaethieth) til happen be in the worksplanned miethlungs- average stunda (stunda stundaeth) acc pursue practise gil (-s -) ravine grillveisla from grill (-s -) barbecue and veisla (-u -ur) party thornjoacuteethvegur (-ar -ir) main road fjoacuterhjoacuteladrifinn adj four-wheel drive

Exercise 3

Richard has received his equipment list and is packing for his wilderness trip but is getting rather flustered He has collected everything listed on the left From the list on the right what should he remember to take as well

Pakkaeth niethur iacute bakpokann Hvaeth fleiraleacutettur og fyrirferetharliacutetill svefnpoki baeligkur priacutemus og pottur poacutestkort hitabruacutesi vatnsbruacutesi drykkjariacutelaacutet hjoacutel plaacutestur goumlnguskoacuterhreinlaeligtisvoumlrur skiacuteethi aacutettaviti ullarpeysa

legghliacutefar til aeth vaetha yfir aacute uacutetvarp strigaskoacuter til aeth vaetha iacute vasahniacutefur ullarnaeligrfoumlt og tvennir ullarsokkar kloacutesettpappiacuter boacutemullarskyrta vettlingar og huacutefagoumlngubuxur ruacutem vasaljoacutes diskur regngallar bloacutem nesti thornurrkaethur matur sundfoumlt smaacutevegis varamatur siacutemi

Vocabulary notes fyrirferetharliacutetill adj compact hreinlaeligtisvoumlrur toiletriesbruacutesi (-a -ar) flask fpl iacutelaacutet (-s -) container aacutettaviti (-a -ar) compass

Iacutesland 187

plaacutestur (-s -) m plaster band-aid legghliacutef (-ar -ar) legging

Dialogue 2

Exercise 4

You too would like to experience a hiking trip through the Icelandic interior and decide to ring the Tourist Information Centre for more information Can you fill in the gaps in the following dialogue

UFR Upplyacutesingamiethstoumleth ferethamaacutela iacute Reykjaviacutek goacuteethan dag You (1 Hello I am planning to travel to Iceland in August and I would like to get

information about trips into the wilderness) ______________________________________________ UFR Ertu aeth hugsa um goumlngufereth hestafereth skiacuteethaferethhellip You (2 A hiking trip) ______________________________________________ UFR Og hvaeth aeligtlarethu aeth vera lengi You (3 Several days) ______________________________________________ UFR Ertu tilbuacuteinn til aeth tjalda eetha aeligtlarethu aeth gista iacute skaacutela You (4 Irsquom quite ready to camp) ______________________________________________ UFR Ertu reyndur goumlngumaethur You (5 Irsquom an average hiker) ______________________________________________ UFR Eacuteg skal gefa thorneacuter siacutemanuacutemerieth hjaacute Uacutetivist THORNeir bjoacuteetha upp aacute spennandi goumlnguferethir

sem eru mjoumlg vinsaeliglar Leiethsoumlgumennirnir eru allir reyndir fjallamenn You (6 Lovely thank you very much) ______________________________________________

Exercise 5

This is a description the wilderness tour guide gives you over the phone concerning a trip you are interested in Change it into the impersonal passive as it would appear in a tourist brochure

Dœmi Vieth keyrum uacutet aacute flugvoumlllrarrthornaeth er keyrt uacutet aacute flugvoumlll Vieth fljuacutegum fraacute Reykjaviacutek til Iacutesafjarethar og siglum thornaethan iacute Hestfjoumlreth

Svo goumlngum vieth fraacute Hesteyri yfir iacute Aethalviacutek og endum iacute Hornviacutek og gistum thornar iacute saeligluskaacutela Naeligsta daginn toumlkum vieth Fagranesieth til baka til Iacutesafjarethar

Exercise 6


Below are listed some of the rules of conduct for campers in Iceland Read them and see if you can do the following

1 Drive up put up your gear and go to sleep yesno2 Go for a drive in the midnight sun around the area yesno3 Have a cup of tea before you go to sleep yesno4 Go for a walk at 6 in the morning yesno5 Gather up your rubbish and leave it in a bag near your tent yesno

Umgengnisreglur aacute tjaldsvaeligethum

a Gestir skulu tilkynna komu siacutena hjaacute umsoacuteknarmanni og greietha dvalargjoumlldb Umfereth biacutela aacute tjaldsvaeligethum er ekki leyfeth fraacute kl 23 til kl 07 c Viacutendrykkjum er bannaeth aacute tjaldsvaeligethum d Sorp skal laacuteta iacute thornar til gereth iacutelaacutet e Ekki skal kveikja eld nema meeth leyfi umsjoacutenarmanns

Language points

Pro-forms

Pro-forms are short words that take the place of nominals or parts of sentences to avoid repetition The most familiar examples are pronouns which replace nouns THORNaeth is the most common pro-form in Icelandic Apart from its role as a neuter singular pronoun and its function as dummy subject in passive constructions explained above thornaeth is used as follows

1 It replaces part of a sentence

lsquoHann segir aeth hann œtli iacute goumlngufereth aacute morgunrsquo lsquoSegir hann thornaeth virkilegarsquo

lsquoHe says that he is going on a hiking trip tomorrowrsquo lsquoDoes he really say thatrsquo

2 Initially it often stands in for a subject that follows later on in the sentence (English lsquotherersquosrsquo)

THORNaeth er muacutes iacute baethkerinu Therersquos a mouse in the bath tub THORNaeth gerist eitthvaeth Therersquos something fun happeningskemmtilegt iacute kvoumlld tonight

3 It serves as a dummy subject in sentences without agency (most commonly weather descriptions)

THORNaeth rignir mikieth iacute dag Itrsquos raining a lot today THORNaeth verethur hlyacutett um helgina Itrsquos going to be warm at the weekend

Iacutesland 189

Note that in all cases where thornaeth serves as a surrogate subject (passive and 2 and 3 above) it is dropped whenever the word order is changed so that another part of speech fills the subject slot

Oft er hlustaeth aacute utvarpiethmdashIacute baethkerinu er muacutesmdashRignir mikieth iacute dag

Reading 2

Landshlutar

What is Snœfellsnes most famous for Why do few people live in the West Fjords What is special about Egilsstaethir Why does most agriculture take place in the south Why are there hardly any fishing towns there

Landshlutarnir eru Vesturland Vestfirethir Norethurland vestra Norethurland eystra Austurland Austfirethir Suethausturland og Suethurland Houmlfuethborgarsvaeligethieth og Reykjanes kallast Suethvesturhornieth Aacute Vesturlandi eru tveir stoacuterir floacutear Faxafloacutei og Breiethafjoumlrethur og gengur langt nes uacutet milli thorneirra sem heitir Snaeligfellsnes THORNar er einn af fraeliggustu og fegurstu joumlklum heims Snaeligfellsjoumlkull Jules Verne skrifaethi um Snaeligfellsjoumlkul iacute boacutekinni sinni fraeliggu Leyndardoacutemi Snœfellsjoumlkuls Vestfirethir eru strjaacutelbyacutelir vegna thorness aeth samgoumlngur eru oft erfiethar og jarethvegur ryacuter en thornar eru margir goacuteethir varpstaethir Svaeligethieth er fjoumllloacutett og landslagieth stoacuterbrotieth Aethalkaupstaethurinn er Iacutesafjoumlrethur Aacute Norethurlandi er staeligrsti baeligr utan houmlfuethborgarsvaeligethisins Akureyri og einn thornekktasti staethurinn aacute landinu Myacutevatn Landslagieth thornar var moacutetaeth af eldgosum og er jarethhiti virkjaethur vieth fjallieth Kroumlflu Aacute Austfjoumlrethum eru haacute fjoumlll og thornroumlngir firethir svipaeth og aacute Vestfjoumlrethum Aacute Austurlandi er staeligrsti skoacutegur aacute Iacuteslandi Hallormsstaethaskoacutegur sem er 2000 hektarar aeth staeligreth Egilsstaethir eru einn faacuterra kaupstaetha sem liggja ekki aeth sjoacute Suethurlandieth er mesta landbuacutenaetharsvaeligethi aacute Iacuteslandi enda er thornar mikieth undirlendi og jarethhiti viacuteetha THORNar eru liacuteka margir ferethamannastaethir ss (svo sem) Skaftafell THORNoacutersmoumlrk Joumlkulsaacuterloacuten og Hvannadalshnuacutekur sem er haeligsta fjall landsins (2119 m) Stroumlndin er aeth mestu hafnlaus enda mjoumlg haeligttuleg skipum og hafa moumlrg farist thornar

Adapted from Joacuten Giacuteslason and Sigriacuteethur THORNorvaldsdoacutettir Landsteinar (Reykjaviacutek 1995)

Vocabulary notes fagur adj superl beautiful varpstaethur breeding groundfegurstur (-ar -ir) nesting place Leyndardoacutemur Journey to the for birds Snœfellsjoumlkuls Centre of the moacuteta (moacuteta form mould Earth moacutetaeth) acc strjaacutelyacutell adj sparsely thornroumlngur adj narrow populated skoacutegur (-ar -ar) forest jarethvegur (-s) m soil undirlendi (-s) n lowland ryacuter adj sparse scanty hafnlaus adj harbourless


Language points

Vindaacutettir (wind directions)

The four wind directions in Icelandic are norethurmdashausturmdashsuethurmdashvestur Their form and usage depends very much on their position and function in the sentence

1 Adverbs bull motion towards norethurmdashausturmdashsuethurmdashvestur bull motion from (aeth) norethanmdash(aeth) austanmdash(aeth) sunnanmdash(aeth) vestan bull rest fyrir norethanmdashfyrir austanmdashfyrir sunnanmdashfyrir vestan

Comparative noretharnyrstmdashaustaraustastmdashsyethrasyethstmdashvestar vestast

2 Nouns norethurmdashausturmdashsuethurmdashvestur

Only used in connection with the directions themselves however Roethinn iacute austri the red in the East

but Hann byacuter aacute Norethurlandifyrir norethan He lives in the North

3 Prepositonal phrases followed by an object

fyrir norethannorethan fyrirnorethan vieth (acc)mdash(to the) north ofhellip

bull motion norethur eftir (acc)mdashnorthwards (along of)

4 Prepositional phrases without an object

bull rest norethur fraacute (dat)mdash(up) north

Veethrieth

Climate generates its own vocabulary In Icelandic this is clear from the preponderance of vocabulary referring to the many different kinds of winds and precipitation A complete list could easily take up several chapters but the following should allow you to understand enough of the weather forecast to know whether to go camping or not or take that trip into the interior Vindur lsquowindrsquo vindstig n wind force

eacuteljagangur intermittent snowhail storms snjoacuter snjoacutea (thornaeth snjoacutear) snow

Iacutesland 191

norethanaacutettnorethlaeligg aacutett northerly wind logn n windstill gola breeze hvass adj hvassviethri n windy (weather) strekkingur strong wind stinningsgola wind force 4 kaldi wind force 5 stinningskaldi force 6 stormur storm 9 rok n storm gale 10 Himinninn lsquothe skyrsquo thornaeth thornykknar upp itrsquos clouding over soacutelskin n sunshine heiethskiacuter adj bright thornaeth er skyacutejaeth itrsquos cloudy alskyacutejaeth clouded over leacutettskyacutejaeth slightly cloudy skyacutejaeth meeth koumlflum occasional clouds thornaeth leacutettir til itrsquos clearing up Uacuterkoma lsquoprecipitationrsquo rigning rigna (thornaeth rignir) rain suacuteld f drizzle skuacuter f shower slydda sleet eacutel n sudden fall of snow or hail

thornoka mist Hitastig lsquotemperaturersquo thornaeth er gott veethur thornegar thornaeth er hlytt warm heitt hot (veethur)bliacuteetha mild thornaeth er tuttugu og thornriggja stiga hiti itrsquos twenty-three degrees Kuldi lsquocoldrsquo thornaeth er kalt veethur thornegar thornaeth er frost frost iacuteskalt icy cold (stethr)hriacuteeth f snow storm Veethurhorfur veethurspaacute lsquoforecastrsquo uacutetlit n outlook veethurstofa weather office thornaeth er thornriggja stiga frost itrsquos minus three Miscellaneous oacuteveethurillviethri very bad weather veethurtepptur adj be delayed due to the weather

Exercise 7

Listen to the forecast and fill in the temperatures expected for each region on the map below


Now listen again and see if you can answer the following questions

1 Where would you definitely not want to go on a hiking trip today or tomorrow

2 Where will it be coldest tonight

3 Where would be the best place to go for outdoor activities on Wednesday and Thursday

4 What is the main expected wind direction

5 What kind of clothing would you wear

6 Where in the country is it expected to be the coolest and where the warmest

Exercise 8

Listen closely to the speaker and indicate on the map above where-abouts the following places are

1 Huacutesaviacutek 3 Sauethaacuterkroacutekur2 Siglufjoumlrethur 4 Bolungarviacutek

5 Stykkishoacutelmur 7 Viacutek (iacute Myacuterdal)6 THORNoacuterlaacutekshoumlfn 8 Djuacutepivogur

Language points

Iacutesland 193

Impersonal passive 2 middle voice

In Lesson 12 you were introduced to the middle voice as a way to express reciprocity and reflexivity The middle voice can also be used in a passive sense in a way that often translates into English as lsquocancould behelliprsquo

Huacutesieth seacutest ekki The house cannot be seen Stoacutellinn kemst ekki The chair cannot get through Pennar tyacutenast siacutefelld heacuter Pens keep getting lost here andog finnast ekki aftur arenrsquot found again

The middle voice is mostly used to express the passive where there is no real agency at all This can be illustrated with the following examples

Doacutetieth okkar er geymt iacute skaacutep Our stuff is kept in a cupboard (someone keeps it there but who is

unimportant) but Mjoacutelkin geymist iacute kaeligliskaacutep Milk keeps in the fridge (no agency no one lsquokeepsrsquo it)

Exercise 9

Put the verbs in brackets in the appropriate middle voice form into the following passive sentences

1 Huacuten _______ vieth goumlnguna (hressa) 2 Toumllvan miacuten _______ oft huacuten er aeth _______ (bila elda) 3 Buxurnar _______ iacute thornvotti (stytta) 4 Ferskt graelignmeti _______ ekki vel iacute thornessum hita thornuacute verethur aeth geyma thornaeth iacute kaeligli annars

_______ thornaeth (geyma skemma)


14 Saga og thornjoacuteeth

Story history and people In this lesson you will learn

bull some lcelandic history and culture sagas and folk tales bull the simple and continuous past bull writing letters reporting events recent past bull expressing possibility and ability geta kunna thornekkja vita vera haeliggt

Reading 1

Saacutelin hans Joacutens miacutens (thornjoacuteethsaga)

Why wonrsquot Joacutenrsquos soul get into heaven How does the woman answer St Peter and the Virgin Mary How does she manage to get the soul into heaven after all

Einu sinni bjuggu saman karl og kerling Var karlinn heldur erfiethur og oacutevinsaeligll og thornar aeth auki latur og oacutenyacutetur aacute heimili siacutenu Liacutekaethi kerlingu hans thornaeth mjoumlg illa og aacutemaeliglti huacuten honum oft En thornoacutett thorneim kaeligmi ekki vel saman iacute sumu elskaethi thornoacute kerling karl sinn mikieth

Eitt sinn vareth karlinn veikur og var thornungt haldinn Kerling vakti yfir honum en thornegar honum batnaethi ekki foacuter huacuten aeth hugsa aeth hann vaeligri ekki svo vel buacuteinn undir dauetha sinn og vafamaacutel hvort hann naacutei inngoumlngu iacute himnariacuteki Huacuten toacutek thornaacute poka og heacutelt honum fyrir munni aacute karlinum og er hann gaf upp oumlndina foacuter huacuten iacute pokann en kerling batt fyrir Siacuteethan foacuter huacuten til himna meeth pokann kom aeth dyrum himnariacutekis og drap aacute dyr THORNaacute kom Sankti Peacutetur uacutet og spurethi erindi hennar Saeligll nuacute segir kerling eacuteg kom hingaeth meeth saacutelina hans Joacutens miacutens og aeligtla eacuteg nuacute aeth biethja thornig aeth koma honum heacuterna inn Jaacutejaacute segir Peacutetur en thornviacute miethur get eacuteg thornaeth ekki eacuteg hef aldrei heyrt neitt gott um hann Joacuten thorninn thornaacute maeliglti kerling THORNaeth heacutelt eacuteg ekki Sankti Peacutetur aeth thornuacute vaeligrir svona harethbrjoacutesta Ertu nuacute buacuteinn aeth gleyma hvernig foacuter fyrir thorneacuter forethum thornegar thornuacute afneitaethir meistara thorniacutenum Peacutetur foacuter svo aftur inn og laeligsti en kerling vareth uacuteti fyrir

Eftir litla stund drepur huacuten aftur aacute dyr og thornaacute kemur Mariacutea mey uacutet Saeligl vertu heillin goacuteeth segir kerling eacuteg vona aeth thornuacute hleypir honum Joacuteni miacutenum inn THORNviacute miethur goacuteetha miacuten segir Mariacutea eacuteg thornori thornaeth ekki af thornviacute hann var svo vondur hann Joacuten thorninn En veistu thornaeth ekki segir kerling aeth aethrir geta verieth veikir eins og thornuacute eetha manstu thornaeth nuacute ekki aeth thornuacute aacutettir barn utan hjoacutenabands Mariacutea vildi ekki heyra meira heldur laeligsti skjoacutetast

Iacute thornriethja sinn barethi kerling aacute dyrnar THORNaacute kom uacutet Kristur sjaacutelfur Kerling maeliglti auethmjuacutek Eacuteg aeligtlaethi aeth biethja thornig aeth lofa vesalings saacutelinni heacuterna inn Kristur svaraethi THORNaeth er hann Joacutenmdashnei kona hann truacuteethi ekki aacute mig En iacute sama bili og hann lokaethi hurethinni aftur kastaethi

huacuten pokanum meeth saacutelinni iacute inn hjaacute honum Leacutetti THORNaacute steini af hjarta kerlingar aeth Joacuten var kominn iacute himnariacuteki og foacuter huacuten gloumleth heim aftur

Adapted from Joacuten Aacuternasonrsquos Iacuteslenzkar thornjoacuteethsoumlgur og œvintyacuteri

Vocabulary notes maeligla (maeliglimdashmaeliglt) say speak aacutemaeligla (aacutemaeliglimdashaacutemaeliglt) dat reproach

scold koma saman imp get along thornungt haldinn in a very bad way seriously ill gefa upp oumlndina give up the ghost die batt past sg of binda fyrir bind shut drepa (drepmdashdrapmdashdraacutepumdashdrepieth) aacute dyr

knock on the door

forethum adv before long ago afneita (afneita afneitaethi afneitaeth) dat deny laeligsa (laeligsi laeligsti laeligst) acc lock (the door) veretha uacuteti fyrir be left outside heillin goacuteethgoacuteethin miacuten my dear (to a woman) hlaupa (hleyp hljoacutep hlupu hlaupieth) inn dat

let someone in

berja (bermdashbarethimdashbarieth) hit knock leacutetta (leacutettimdashleacutett) steini be greatly relieved heavy weight is lifted

Language points

Relating what happened the past tense

The story in Reading 1 is told largely in the past tense Go back to the text for a moment and see if you can pick out the verbs Do you detect any patterns at all

The main distinction in how the past tense is formed is between weak and strong verbs Weak verbs form the past tense with a -d -t or -eth (depending on the preceding sound as with the imperative suffix) followed by a singular (-i -ir -i) or plural ending (-um -ueth -u) The -a- group keeps its final -a so it is always followed by -eth whereas verbs from the -ur- group are subject to the following stem vowel changes egta ygtu (yacutegtuacute) Here are some examples

œtl-a lœs-a flyt-ja ber-ja eacuteg aeligtl-a-ethi laeligs-ti flut-ti bar-ethi thornuacute aeligtl-a-ethir laeligs-tir flut-tir bar-ethir huacuten aeligtl-a-ethi laeligs-ti flut-ti bar-ethi vieth aeligtl-u-ethum laeligs-tum flut-tum boumlr-ethumthornieth aeligtl-u-ethueth laeligs-tueth flut-tueth boumlr-ethueththornaeligr aeligtl-u-ethu laeligs-tu flut-tu boumlr-ethu

Have you noticed the U-shift at work


The past tense of strong verbs is a little trickier The endings are the easy part only the second person singular has an ending -st (any preceding -t- in the stem will be dropped) and the plural endings are the same as for weak verbs Strong verbs form their past tense mainly through a stem vowel change one in the singular and a different one in the plural It is possible to chart the patterns of these vowel changes although there are significant exceptions to these patterns Strong verbs in the glossary list are followed by the first person singular and third person plural in the past tense and you will be surprised how quickly you will pick up the past tense forms of common verbs The following chart of infinitive stem vowels and their first person singular and plural past forms should help as well The past participle stem vowel is given in the final column

Stem vowel 1st psg 1st ppl PP vowel -iacute- -ei- -i- -i- biacuteethamdashbeiethmdashbiethummdashbiethieth -joacutejuacuteuacute- -au- -u- -o- fljuacutegamdashflaugmdashflugummdashflogieth

-a- -u- -u- drekkamdashdrakkmdashdrukkummdashdrukkieth

-a- -aacute- -e- gefamdashgafmdashgaacutefummdashgefieth

-a- -u- -u- finnamdashfannmdashfundummdashfundieth

-a- -aacute- -e- sitjamdashsatmdashsaacutetummdashsetieth

-a- -oacute- -oacute- -a- faramdashfoacutermdashfoacuterummdashfarieth -a- fallamdashfeacutellmdashfeacutellummdashfallieth -eacute- -aacute- laacutetamdashleacutetmdashleacutetummdashlaacutetieth -ei- heitamdashheacutetmdashheacutetummdashheitieth

-au- -joacute- -u- -au hlaupamdashhljoacutepmdashhlupummdashhlaupieth

Athugieth

1 Individual anomalies may occur in each of these patterns such as finna which has a -d- in the plural and past participle and binda which has batt as its singular form The following concern very common verbs

buacuteamdashbjoacutemdashbjuggummdashbuacuteieth standamdashstoacuteethmdashstoacuteethummdashstaethieth gangamdashgekkmdashgengummdashgengieth faacutemdashfeacutekkmdashfengummdashfengieth deyjamdashdoacutemdashdoacuteummdashdaacuteieth 2 Verbs with initial v- lose that v- before the -u- in the plural and past participle vinnamdashvannmdashunnummdashunnieth 3 Two common verbs with -o- as stem vowel komamdashkommdashkomummdashkomieth sofamdashsvafmdashsvaacutefummdashsofieth Some examples

Saga og thornjoacuteeth 197

griacutepa bjoacuteetha lesa laacuteta eacuteg greip baueth las leacutet thornuacute greipst bauethst last leacutest hann greip baueth las leacutet vieth gripum buethum laacutesum leacutetumthornieth gripueth buethueth laacutesueth leacutetueththorneir gripu buethu laacutesu leacutetu

Exercise 1

List all verbs in Reading 1 that are in the past tense (only once) Are they weak or strong What would be their past plural (or singular) forms

Exercise 2

Can you give the singular and plural past tense forms of the following verbs You may have to check if they are weak or strong You can also use the glossary list to help you but try first to derive the forms on your own) boretha gleyma gera velja njoacuteta veretha taka leika spyrja graacuteta nota sjoacuteetha

Exercise 3

Now we go back to some Icelandic history In Lesson 3 Exercise 7 you matched a number of Icelandic historical facts with their correct dates The events were phrased in the present tense (with the exception of the verb vera which was left out altogether Bibliacutean (er) prentueth aacute iacuteslensku) Can you change the sentences to the past tense putting in the appropriate forms of vera where left out

Exercise 4 Halldoacuter Laxness

Below is a brief text about the life of Halldoacuter Laxness Icelandrsquos most famous modern author Can you put the verbs in brackets in their appropriate past tense form

Halldoacuter Kiljan Laxness ________ (faeligethast) thornegar 20 oumlldin ________ (vera) tveggja aacutera goumlmul og ________ (deyja) thornegar huacuten ________ (eiga) aetheins tvouml aacuter eftir Hann ________ (vera) skiacuterethur Halldoacuter Guethmundsson og ________ (buacutea) aacute boacutendabaelig iacute Mosfellssveit sem _______ (heita) Laxnes Hann ________ (skrifa) fyrstu skaacuteldsoumlgu siacutena Barn naacutettuacuterunnar og ________ (fara) til Kaupmannahafnar thornegar hann ________ (vera) sautjaacuten aacutera Hann ________ (ferethast) um Evroacutepu ________ (dvelja) ma iacute THORNyacuteskalandi og ________ (taka) kathornoacutelska truacute og iacuterska nafnieth Kiljan og ________ (ganga) iacute klaustur iacute Luacutexemborg aacuterieth 1922 Hann ________ (koma) heim til Iacuteslands aacuterieth 1924 og thornremur aacuterum seinna ________ (koma) uacutet oumlnnur skaacuteldsaga eftir hann Vefarinn mikli fraacute Kasmiacuter sem hann ________ (semja) aacuterieth 1925 THORNetta verk ________ (vera) ein af fyrstu moacutederniacutesku skaacuteldsoumlgum aacute iacuteslensku og ________ (vekja) mikla


athygli Halldoacuter ________ (gefa) upp kathornoacutelska truacute og prestanaacutem og ________ (veretha) soacutesiacutealisti thornegar hann ________ (vera) iacute Norethur Ameriacuteku aacuterin 1927ndash9 Eftir thornaeth ________ (byrja) hann aeth skrifa iacute alvoumlru og ________ (skrifa) hverja skaacuteldsoumlguna eftir aethra thornaacutem Sjaacutelfstœtt foacutelk Soumllku Voumllku Iacuteslandsklukkuna Atoacutemstoumlethina Gerplu og Kristnihald undir joumlkli og ________ (vera) margar thorneirra thornyacuteddar og gerethar aeth kvikmyndum Hann ________ (semja) liacuteka greinar leikrit smaacutesoumlgur og ljoacuteeth Halldoacuter Laxness ________ (faacute) Noacutebelsverethlaunin aacuterieth 1955

Exercise 5

In the text on Laxness you saw how you can use the past tense to talk about somebodyrsquos (past) life Write sentences describing your life until now using some of these words

faeligethastmdashbuacuteamdashalast upp (=lsquogrow uprsquo strong verb)mdashfara iacute skoacutelastunda naacutemmdashvinnamdashkeyra biacutelmdashflytjamdashgiftastmdashfara til uacutetlandamdashfara til Iacuteslandsmdashlaeligra iacuteslenskuhellip

There is a sample answer at the back of the book How does Joacuteniacutenarsquos life differ from yours

The use of the past tense simple and continuous past recent past

The tense you have just learned to form is known as the simple past Not surprisingly it is used to indicate an action or event that is completely finished and in the past In cases where something happened in the past while something else was happening at that very moment in time (past continuous) you use the past tense of the verb vera followed by aeth and the infinitive of the main verb

Eacuteg var aeth horfa aacute sjoacutenvarpieth thornegar hann kom inn I was watching television when he came in Vieth vorum aeth tala saman thornegar hann hringdi We were talking when he rang

In sentences where an action or event is still linked to the present moment because it is so close in time andor because its effects are still with us Icelandic uses the construction vera buacuteinn aeth followed by the infinitive of the main verb Note that buacuteinn has to reflect the gender and number of the subject

Barnieth er buacuteieth aeth boretha The child has finished eatinghas eaten Huacuten er buacutein aeth sjaacute myndina She has seen the film Krakkarnir eru buacutenir aeth gera vieth hjoacutelieth The children have mended the bike


This construction can only be used in conjunction with situational verbs (liggja sitja etc) or verbs denoting a quick and sudden action (detta vakna) if there is an indication in the sentence of how long or how often it has happened

Amma er buacutein aeth sofa but Amma er buacutein aeth sofa iacute allan dag Granny has been sleeping all day

Hann er buacuteinn aeth detta but Hann er margoft buacuteinn aeth detta af stoacutelnum He has often fallen off his chair

The construction vera buacuteieth aeth is very common in the impersonal passive especially in journalistic writing Here are some examples

THORNaeth er buacuteieth aeth tala vieth kennarannBuacuteieth er aeth tala vieth kennarann There have been talks with the teacher THORNaeth er buacuteieth aeth segja fraacute slysinu iacute bloumlethunumBuacuteieth er aeth segja fraacute

slysinu iacute bloumlethunum There has been an account of the accident in the newspapers

Exercise 6 Biacutelslys

There has been a serious car accident in a busy Reykjaviacutek street The police are interviewing eyewitnesses to find out exactly what happened They want to know where everyone was and what they were doing when the accident happened Can you write out the following police notes in complete sentences using the continuous past where appropriate

1 Oumlrlygur Joacutensson -horfethi iacute buacuteethargluggamdashheyrethi brak -leit () um oumlxlmdashslysieth buacuteieth aeth gerast 2 Mariacutea Joacutehannsdoacutettir -gekk niethur goumltunamdashsaacute biacutelinn keyra inn iacute buacuteetharglugga 3 Peacutetur Briem -beieth eftir umferetharljoacutesimdashbiacutellinn keyrethi framhjaacute -horfethi aacute eftir honummdashbiacutellinn sveigethi til vinstri og skall aacute buacuteethina 4 Fanney Freysdoacutettir -talaethi vieth kunningja hjaacute buacuteethinnimdashsaacute biacutelinn koma aeth seacuter -horfethi aacute biacutelstjoacuterannmdashhoumlfuethieth datt niethur aacute styacuterieth

Reading 2

Breacutef

Several weeks after Joyce has returned home from her Icelandic holiday she writes her friend Aacuteslaug the following letter What happened during Joycersquos absence What did she have to do What did she miss in Iceland

Manchester 4 Apriacutel 2000 Elsku Aacuteslaug Fyrirgefethu hvaeth thornaeth hefur dregist hjaacute meacuter aeth skrifa thorneacuter en eacuteg er buacutein aeth vera svo

oumlnnum kafin THORNegar eacuteg kom heim fraacute Iacuteslandi kom iacute ljoacutes aeth thornaeth var buacuteieth aeth brjoacutetast inn iacute huacutesieth Innbrotsmennirnir toacuteku toumllvuna miacutena geislaspilarann sjoacutenvarpieth og myndbandstaeligki Sem betur fer skildi eacuteg enga peninga eftir iacute huacutesinu En thornaeth var mikieth


vesen iacute kringum thornetta allt saman Snemma naeligsta dag vareth eacuteg aeth fara aacute loumlgreglustoumleth til aeth gefa skyacuterslu hafa samband vieth tryggingarfeacutelagieth osfrv

En annars er allt gott aeth freacutetta heacuteethan THORNaeth er brjaacutelaeth aeth gera hjaacute meacuter eins og alltaf en eacuteg er aacutenaeliggeth iacute vinnunni Foreldrum miacutenum gengur liacuteka vel og thornau biethja kaeligrlega aeth heilsa thorneacuter

Hvernig gengur svo hjaacute thorneacuter Ertu buacutein aeth venjast nyacuteju iacutebuacuteethinni Hvernig var iacute veislunni hans Kjartans var ekki bara gaman Meacuter thornoacutetti leitt aeth thornurfa aeth missa af henni

Eacuteg thornakka aftur innilega fyrir mig Mikieth var gott aeth sjaacute thornig aftur Hafethu thornaeth sem best og skilaethu miacutenum bestu kveethjum heim til thorniacuten Kaeligr kveethja Joyce

Vocabulary notes hvaeth thornaeth hefur dregist hjaacute meacuter how long it has taken medragast be delayed vera oumlnnum kafinn be very busy koma iacute ljoacutes appear brjoacutetast inn break in burgle innbrotsmenn burglars sem betur fer fortunately skilja (skil skildi skilaeth) eftir acc leave behind tryggingarfeacutelag (-s -) insurance company missa (missimdashmisstimdashmisst) af dat miss innilega adv affectionately hafethu thornaeth sem best all the best be well

Exercise 7

Imagine you have just returned from a holiday in Iceland Below are notes from your diary covering the last week of your stay there Write a letter to your friend in Iceland in which you tell him or her what you did during those final days 5 July took a coach to THORNingvellir () Did some sightseeing and walked around Very beautiful place Went to a concert in Hallgriacutemskirkja in the evening 6ndash7 July Went on a two-day guided tour around the area of Njalrsquos saga (soumlgusloacuteethir Njaacutels soumlgu) in Fljoacutetshliacuteeth Saw the exhibition about Njalrsquos saga in (aacute) Hvolsvoumlllur Fantastic 8 July Went on a boat trip to Viethey and had a look at the church and the oldest house in the country

Beautiful warm weather Walked around the island and saw many kinds of birds 9 July went for a swim and went shopping in the town centre Bought many gifts and souvenirs (minjagripur -s -ir) Had dinner with Sif and Kjartan at Cafeacute Soacutelon Iacuteslandus 10 July packed Had a sandwich at the Nordic House and saw an Icelandic film there Took the bus to Keflaviacutek and said goodbye to Iceland


Language points

Expressing ability knowledge and possibility

The verb geta in Icelandic means lsquocanrsquo lsquobe able torsquo It is a strong verb and it is also unusual in that it must always be followed by the past participle of the main verb

Eacuteg get ekki gengieth aacute thornessum skoacutem I canrsquot walk in these shoes Vieth gaacutetum ekkert aeth thornviacute gert We couldnrsquot do anything about it THORNaeth getur ekki verieth That canrsquot be Thatrsquos not possible

Do you remember another way of saying lsquoitrsquos not possiblersquo Of course THORNaeth er ekki haeliggt

Not all kinds of ability are covered by geta The verb kunna is used to express any ability that is learned ie you can because you have learned how to When followed by a nominal kunna governs the accusative When followed by a verb the verb is preceded by aeth

Soffiacutea kann iacutetoumllsku Soffia can (=knows how to) speak Italian

THORNeir kunna ekki aeth synda They canrsquot (=havenrsquot learned to) swim

The verbs thornekkja vita and kannast vieth all mean lsquoknowrsquo but they refer to different kinds of knowledge THORNekkja (thornekkimdashthornekktimdashthornekkt) means to know something or someone because of experience or previous exposure Hann thornekkir Iacutetaliacuteu vel Hann fer thornangaeth aacute hverju sumri lsquoHe knows Italy well He goes there every summerrsquo

Kannast vieth is similar to thornekkja but weaker It refers more to recognition than to actual knowledge

Kannastu vieth thornetta oreth Jaacute eacuteg hef seacuteeth thornaeth en eacuteg veit ekki hvaeth thornaeth thornyacuteethir

Do you recognize this word Yes I have seen it but I donrsquot know what it means

Kannast is the middle voice form of kanna lsquoinvestigatersquo lsquoexplorersquo and is a regular weak -a verb

The verb vita refers to factual knowledge It governs the accusative case when followed by a nominal It can also be followed by a subordinate clause in which case it is followed by aeth or by an interrogative such as hvort hvar hvaeth hvernig

Eacuteg veit ekki hver hann er hvar hann byacuter og hvaethan hann kemur I do not know who he is where he lives or where he comes from THORNau vita ekki aeth huacuten aeligtlar til uacutetlanda They do not know that she intends to go abroad


Note that vita must be followed by somethingmdashit cannot be left on its own as happens in English lsquoI knowrsquo Eacuteg veit thornaeth

Kunna and vita are rather irregular verbs These are their present and past tense conjungations

kunna vita present past present past eacuteg kann kunni veit vissi thornuacute kannt kunnir veist vissir hann kann kunni veit vissi vieth kunnum kunnum vitum vissumthornieth kunnieth kunnueth vitieth vissueththorneir kunna kunnu vita vissu

Exercise 8

Herersquos a little test of your knowledge of Iceland Can you answer the following questions (In complete Icelandic sentences of course)

1 THORNekkir thornuacute Iacutesland vel

2 THORNekkir thornuacute Oacutelaf Ragnar Griacutemsson

3 Kanntu (aeth tala) iacuteslensku

4 Kannastu vieth Njaacutels soumlgu

5 Er haeliggt aeth fara kringum Iacutesland meeth lest

6 Veistu hvenaeligr Haacuteskoacuteli Iacuteslands var stofnaethur

7 Veistu hvaeth Iacutesland er stoacutert (iacute ferkiacuteloacutemetrum)

8 Veistu hvar Fljoacutetshliacuteeth er

9 Veistu hver samdi Njaacutels soumlgu

Reading 3

Uacuter Brennu Njaacutels soumlgu

The Icelandic sagas are classics of medieval European literature Among the most renowned are the Iacuteslendingasoumlgur vivid and dramatic stories about Icelanders set during the age of settlement The sagas are characterized by a terse laconic realistic narrative style that is unique among its European contemporaries The following is a fragment


from The Saga of Burnt Njall written around the thirteenth century Gunnar farmer and main hero of the saga has been exiled at the Althing but has chosen not to leave his country thereby forfeiting his life A group of men arrives at his farm led by Gissur hviacuteti to seek justice by killing him How did THORNorgriacutemur find out Gunnar was at home How many men has Gunnar killed What does he need Hallgerethurrsquos hair for Does he get it

Gunnar svaf iacute lofti einu iacute skaacutelanum og Hallgerethur og moacuteethir hans En er thorneir komu aeth baelignum vissu thorneir eigi hvort Gunnar mundi heima vera Gissur maeliglti aeth nokkur skyldi fara heim aacute huacutesin og vita hvaeth af kannaethi en thorneir settust niethur aacute voumlllinn meethan THORNorgriacutemur austmaethur gekk upp aacute skaacutelann Gunnar seacuter aeth rauethan kyrtil ber vieth glugginum og leggur uacutet meeth atgeirinum aacute hann miethjan THORNorgriacutemi skruppu faeligturnir og vareth laus skjoumlldurinn og hrataethi hann ofan af thornekjunni Gengur hann siacuteethan aeth thorneim Gissuri thornar er thorneir saacutetu aacute vellinum Gissur leit vieth honum og maeliglti lsquoHvort er Gunnar heimarsquo

lsquoVitieth thorneacuter thornaeth en hitt vissi eg aeth atgeir hans var heimarsquo segir Austmaethurinn Feacutell hann thornaacute niethur dauethur THORNeir soacutettu thornaacute heim aeth huacutesunum Gunnar is married to the proud and temperamental Hallgerethur who has never

forgiven her husband for slapping her face in public Iacute thornessu bili hleypur upp aacute thornekjuna THORNorbrandur THORNorleiksson og houmlggur iacute sundur

bogastrenginn Gunnars Gunnar thornriacutefur atgeirinn baacuteethum houmlndum og snyacutest aeth honum skjoacutett og rekur iacute gegnum hann atgeirinn og kastar honum dauethum aacute voumlllinn THORNaacute hljoacutep upp Aacutesbrandur broacuteethir hans Gunnar leggur til hans atgeirinum og kom hann skildi fyrir sig Atgeirinn renndi iacute gegnum skjoumlldinn og svo meethal handleggjanna Snaraethi Gunnar thornaacute svo fast atgeirinn aeth skjoumlldurinn klofnaethi en brotnuethu baacuteethir handleggirnir og feacutell hann uacutet af vegginum Aacuteethur hafethi Gunnar saeligretha aacutetta menn en vegieth thornaacute tvo THORNaacute feacutekk Gunnar saacuter tvouml og soumlgethu thornaeth allir menn aeth hann brygethi seacuter hvorki vieth saacuter neacute vieth bana Hann maeliglti til Hallgerethar

lsquoFaacute meacuter leppa tvo uacuter haacuteri thorniacutenu og snuacuteieth thornieth moacuteethir miacuten saman til bogastrengs meacuterrsquo lsquoLiggur thorneacuter nokkueth viethrsquo segir huacuten lsquoLiacutef mitt liggur viethrsquo segir hann lsquothornviacute aeth thorneir munu mig aldrei faacute soacutettan meethan eg kem

boganum viethrsquo lsquoTHORNaacute skal eg nuacutersquo segir huacuten lsquomuna thorneacuter kinnhestinn og hirethi eg aldrei hvort thornuacute vereth thornig

lengur eetha skemurrsquo lsquoHefir hver til siacutens aacutegaeligtis nokkuethrsquo segir Gunnar lsquoog skal thornig thornessa eigi lengi biethjarsquo Rannveig maeliglti lsquoIlla fer thorneacuter og mun thorniacuten skoumlmm lengi uppirsquo

Vocabulary notes eigi=ekki houmlggva (houmlgg cut hew chopvita hvaeth af find out hegg hjoacute kannaethi investigate hjuggu hoggieth) kyrtill (-s -ar) tunic gown acc atgeir (-s -ar) m halberd bogastrengur (-s -ir) bow string hrata (hrata stumble topple thornriacutefa (thornriacutef thornreif grab clean hrataethi hrataeth) thornrufum thornrifieth) thornekja (-u -ur) roof acc vitieth thorneacuter find out (for snara (snaramdash snare =kannieth thornieth yourselves) snaraeth) acc


vega (veg voacute voacutegu vegieth) acc slay brygethi past subj of bregetha (bregeth braacute brugethu brugethieth) seacuter vieth acc

react to flinch at

bani (-a) death leppur (-s -ar) piece lock liggur thorneacuter nokkueth vieth does anything depend upon it for

you thorneir munu mig aldrei faacute soacutettan they will never get me kinnhestur (-s -ar) slap in the face hiretha (hirethi hirti hirt) um acc care about verja (ver varethi varieth) sig defend oneself hold out lengur eetha skemur for a longer or a shorter time hafa til siacutens aacutegaeligtis have to onersquos distinction fara e-m illa it is unbecoming it doesnrsquot become

one mun skoumlmm thorniacuten lengi uppi your shame will be long-lived


15 Houmlfueth herethar hneacute og taeligr

Head and shoulders knees and toes In this lesson you will learn about

bull the human body bull health bull more impersonal constructions how are you feeling bull visiting a doctor aches pains and afflictions bull present perfect what has happened before what happened a long time agobull demonstrative pronouns thornessi saacute hinn

Dialogue 1

Hvernig hefurethu thornaeth

What is the matter with Aacuteki Has he been to the doctorrsquos What does Hrafn tell him to do

HRAFN Goacuteethan og blessaethan daginn Aacuteki minn hvernig hefurethu thornaeth AacuteKI Ekki svo gott HRAFN Nuacute hvaeth er aeth Ertu lasinn AacuteKI Eacuteg er kominn meeth kvef held eacuteg Eacuteg er meeth haacutelsboacutelgu eacuteg er stiacuteflaethur iacute nefinu og

meacuter er ferlega illt iacute houmlfethinu Meacuter liacuteethur alveg oumlmurlega HRAFN Ertu meeth hita AacuteKI Eacuteg veit thornaeth ekki thornaeth getur vel verieth Eacuteg er eitthvaeth svo slappur og of thornreyttur til aeth

gera nokkueth HRAFN THORNuacute aeligttir aeth kuacutera undir saeligng frekar en aeth labba um heacuterna iacute kuldanum Kannski

er thornaeth alls ekki bara kvef heldur flensa THORNaeth er einhver hraeligethileg pest aeth ganga Ertu buacuteinn aeth fara til laeligknis

AacuteKI Nei en eacuteg feacutekk meacuter hoacutestasiacuteroacutep og toumlflur til aeth draga uacuter saacuterindum iacute haacutelsi HRAFN Komdu thorneacuter heim maethur skriacuteddu iacute ruacutemieth og laacutettu thorneacuter batna AacuteKI Jaacute kannski er best eacuteg geri thornaeth

Vocabulary notes kvef (-s) n cold flensa (-u) flu haacutelsboacutelga (-u) sore throat thornaeth er pest aeth therersquos a bugstiacuteflaethur congested pp of ganga going around stiacutefla plug (up) hoacutestasiacuteroacutep from hoacutesti meacuter er illt iacute my head hurts I lsquocoughrsquo andhoumlfethinu have a siacuteroacutep (-s) headache lsquosyruprsquo oumlmurlega adv miserably tafla (-u -ur) tablet pill hiti (-a) temperature fever draga uacuter dat take away slappur adj weak without withdraw energy saacuterindi npl pain hurt

Vocabulary

Liacutekaminn the body

In the course of the previous lessons you have already encountered a number of words to do with the human body You may remember auga eyra haacuterhellip Here are some other useful ones Of how many can you guess the meaning using the context of the words to help you 1 Houmlfuethieth

tvouml eyru tvouml augu tvaeligr varir ein tunga og margar tennur iacute einum munni eitt nef ein haka Karlmenn eru meeth skegg thornegar thorneir eru meeth haacuter aacute houmlkunni ogeetha efri vor

Haacutelsinn tengir houmlfuethieth vieth herethar og bol 2 Bolurinn tveir handleggir tvaeligr hendur og tiacuteu fingur

tveir fœtur tvouml hneacute tveir oumlkklar tiacuteu tœr Aeth framan eitt eetha tvouml brjoacutest

einn magi Aeth aftan eitt bak

einn rass

Liacutekaminn er thornakinn huacuteeth og sums staethar haacuteri THORNaeth rennur bloacuteeth iacute gegnum hann allan Could you derive the gender and nominative singular form of each of these new

nouns looking at their form and that of their qualifiers in the sentence

Language points

Body parts how to use them in Icelandic

Some Icelandic body parts are notoriously irregular in their declension patterns Auga eyra hjarta and lunga (lsquolungrsquo) are weak neuter nouns which all have -a as a singular

Houmlfueth herethar hneacute og taeligr 207

ending in each of the four cases and -u -u -um -na in the plural The irregular ones you should know are

Masculine Feminine foacutetur fingur houmlnd toumlnn taacute sg nom foacutet-ur fingur houmlnd- toumlnn- taacute- acc foacutet- fingur houmlnd- toumlnn- taacute- gen fœt-i fingr-i hend-i toumlnn- taacute- dat foacutet-ar fingur-s hand-ar tann-ar taacute-arpl nom fœt-ur fingur- hend-ur tenn-ur tœ-r acc fœt-ur fingur- hend-ur tenn-ur tœ-r gen foacutet-um fingr -um houmlnd-um toumlnn-um taacute-m dat foacutet-a fingr -a hand-a tann-a taacute-a

It is worth noting that in Icelandic one does not lsquoownrsquo the parts of onersquos body that is to say they are never used in combination with the possessive verb eiga and only rarely with a possessive pronoun Instead you use the prepositional phrase vera meeth+acc (eacuteg er meeth ljoacutest krullaeth haacuter lsquoI have blond curly hairrsquo) or the definite article (meacuter er kalt aacute foacutetunum lsquoMy feet are coldrsquo lit lsquoI am cold on the feetrsquo) If there is a specific need to indicate whose body the part belongs to it is common to have it followed by the preposition iacute or aacute (depending on where the part is located) and the owner in the dative case

Haacuterieth aacute honum er skiacutetugt His hair is dirty Kerlingin heacutelt poka fyrir munni aacute karlinum The old woman held a bag before the old manrsquos mouth

Exercise 1 Mannlyacutesingar

One of the shops in the shopping centre Kringlan has had some of its merchandise stolen An eyewitness who thinks she saw the shoplifter close up as he ran out gives the police the following description

THORNetta var haacutevaxinn maethur meeth siacutett rautt haacuter THORNaeth var sleacutett og bundieth iacute tagl Augun iacute honum voru graelign og hann var meeth stoacuteran munn og mikieth skegg Hann var meeth eyrnalokk iacute vinstra eyranu og marga gullhringa aacute fingrunum Hann var meeth ansi stoacuteran maga jaacute feitur myndi eacuteg segja Faeligturnir aacute honum voru frekar stoacuterir Hann var iacute bol og stuttbuxum og stuttbuxum thornaeth var stoacutert oumlr aacute haeliggra hneacuteinu

oumlr (-s -) n scar The policeman taking down the description is new to the job and a little flustered He

writes down the following statements Are they correct


1 Haacuterieth aacute manninum var stutt jaacutenei2 Hann var meeth graelign augu jaacutenei3 Maethurinn var meeth skartgripi jaacutenei4 Hann var skeggjaethur jaacutenei5 Hann var grannur (lsquoslimrsquo) jaacutenei6 THORNaeth var vetur jaacutenei

Exercise 2

How would you describe the following people in Icelandic

1 Elvis Presley 5 Arnold Schwarzenegger2 Mick Jagger 6 Marilyn Monroe 3 Diana Ross 7 Fidel Castro 4 Queen Elizabeth II 8 Yourself

Dialogue 2

Hjaacute laeligkni

Aacuteki spends a few days at home but isnrsquot getting any better so her decides to take Hrafnrsquos advice and see his doctor Does Aacuteki often see a doctor What does the doctor say is the matter with him What must Aacuteki do to get better

LAEligKNIR Goacuteethan daginn Aacuteki gjoumlrethu svo vel THORNaeth er langt siacuteethan eacuteg hef seacuteeth thornig Hvaeth gengur aeth thorneacuter thornuacute ert ekki vel friacuteskur

AacuteKI Nei meacuter liacuteethur alls ekki vel LAEligKNIR Geturethu lyacutest einkennunum fyrir mig AacuteKI Eacuteg hef verieth meeth haacutelsboacutelgu iacute nokkra daga nefgoumlngin eru alveg stiacuteflueth og eacuteg er

siacutehoacutestandi og alveg maacutettlaus Svo hefur thornessi voethalegi houmlfuethverkur lagst aacute mig LAEligKNIR Faeligrethu oft houmlfuethverk AacuteKI Nei thornaeth gerist sjaldan sem betur fer LAEligKNIR THORNaeth liacutetur uacutet fyrir aeth vera slaeligmt kvef Ertu buacuteinn aeth maeligla thornig AacuteKI Jaacute eacuteg var meeth 40 stiga hita iacute morgun LAEligKNIR Nuacute hvaeth Er saacutert thornegar thornuacute hoacutestar AacuteKI Jaacute thornaeth er thornaeth LAEligKNIR Viltu gjoumlra svo vel aeth fara uacuter skyrtunni og leyfa meacuter aeth hlusta og liacuteta iacute haacutelsinn

aacute thorneacuter Jaeligja Aacuteki thornuacute beiethst ein um of lengi aeth koma til miacuten og nuacute ertu kominn meeth lungnaboacutelgu THORNuacute skalt fara heim strax og halda thornig iacute ruacuteminu thornangaeth til eacuteg kem og skoetha thornig aftur eftir nokkra daga En ef thorneacuter versnar laacutettu senda eftir meacuter strax Gefethu konunni thorninni thornennan lyfseethil til aeth naacute iacute lyf handa thorneacuter Af staeth meeth thornig Aacuteki og farethu nuacute vel meeth thornig og taktu thorneacuter hviacuteld


AacuteKI THORNakka thorneacuter fyrir eacuteg skal gera thornaeth

Vocabulary notes hvaeth gengur whatrsquos the leggjast (leggst strike attackaeth thorneacuter matter -lagethist- einkenni (-s -) characteristics lagst) aacute acc symptoms maeligla (maeliglimdash measure takemaacutettlaus adj feeble weak maeliglt) acc temperature without energy lugnaboacutelga (-u) pneumonia

versna (versnamdashget worse lyf (-s -) medicine versnaeth) imp af staeth meeth thornig off you go lyfseethill (-s -ar) prescription fara vel meeth sig look after oneself

Vocabulary

Veikindi meethferethir og laeligkningar illnesses treatments and cures

You have now learned some of the more common afflictions Here are some other ones that are useful to know

matareitrun (-ar) f food poisoning sykursyacuteki findecl diabetes taugaaacutefall (-s) n shock nervous breakdownuacutetbrot (-s -) n rash outbreak

The following suffixes are commonly used for aches and pains piacutena (-u) f as in tannpiacutena lsquotoothachersquo verkur (-jar -ir) m as in houmlfuethverkur lsquoheadachersquo and tuacuterverkir lsquomenstrual painsrsquo krampi (-a -ar) m as in voumlethvakrampi lsquomuscle cramprsquo What do I tell the doctor Some useful verbal expressions

eacuteg fiacutenn til iacute dat eacuteg fiacutenn til iacute maganum my stomach hurtseacuteg er meeth verk iacute dat eacuteg er meeth verk iacute bakinu my back hurts thornaeth er saacutert it hurts eacuteg er meeth acc eacuteg er meeth niethurgang I have diarrhoea kasta (kastamdashkastaeth) upp be sick vomit meietha (meiddi meitt) acc injure hurt meietha sig hurt oneself

Finally some common adjectives slappurmdashhress lasinnmdashfriacuteskur veikurmdashheilbrigethur


marinn bruised boacutelginn inflamed swollen vera-brotinn have a brokenhellip as in Eacuteg er foacutetoumlkklahandleggsbrotinn I have a broken leganklearm Now what can be done about it

fara iacute (laeligknis)skoethun go for a check-up fara iacute meethfereth (viethhellip) get treatment (forhellip)fara iacute uppskurethvera skorinn up have an operation laacuteta sprauta sig get an injection

Language points

More impersonal constructions

Impersonal constuctions are often used when describing a physical state The following in particular are quite common

meacuter er oacuteglatt I feel nauseous sick meacuter liacuteethur velilla I am feeling wellunwellmeacuter er illt iacutehellip dat Irsquom ill to myhellip meacuter batnar I am getting better meacuter versnar I am getting worse mig verkjar iacutehellip acc I have a pain in myhellip

Did you notice how in Dialogue 1 Hrafn told Aacuteki laacutettu thorneacuter batna lsquoget better soonrsquo Because impersonal constructions have no real subject and therefore no agent the imperative is formed with the help of the verb laacuteta laacutettu thorneacuter liacuteetha vel

Exercise 3

The following tourists are in the biethstofa or waiting room of the heilsugaeligslustoumleth the local health centre where one goes to see a doctor None of these people speak Icelandic so you offer to translate Can you tell the doctor in Icelandic what is wrong with each of them

1 Nilguumln feels nauseous is sick directly after having eaten and has diarrhoea It could be food poisoning

2 Umberto fell during a hiking trip and his ankle hurts It is bruised and swollen and he is afraid it is broken

3 Merja backache and stomach cramps Can hardly walk or eat 4 Janoacutes has a dreadful headache which happens rarely Feels weak He has taken his

temperature but has no fever


Dialogue 3

Iacute apoacutetekinu

Joyce goes to the local pharmacist What has happened to Joyce What does she want for it Why does she buy the thermometer What else does she get while shersquos there

APOacuteTEKARI Goacuteethan dag hvaeth get eacuteg gert fyrir thornig JOYCE Goacuteethan daginn mig vantar saacuterabindi og plaacutestur og einhver soacutetthreinsandi efni APOacuteTEKARI Nuacute meiddirethu thornig JOYCE Jaacute eacuteg datt iacute sundlauginni og hruflaethi mig aacute hneacuteinu og thornaeth er ferlega saacutert APOacuteTEKARI THORNessi joethaacuteburethur heacuterna er mjoumlg goacuteethur JOYCE Fiacutent thornaacute aeligtla eacuteg aeth faacute hann og liacuteka verkjatoumlflur og lyf vieth nefstiacuteflu APOacuteTEKARI Gjoumlrethu svo vel Fleira nokkueth JOYCE Jaacute hitamaeligli takk Saacute gamli tyacutendist Og meethan eacuteg er heacuter aeligtla eacuteg liacuteka aeth faacute meacuter

andlitskrem Eacuteg er buacutein aeth fara svo oft iacute sund aeth huacuteethin er orethin alveg thornurr APOacuteTEKARI Proacutefaethu thornetta thornaeth er mjoumlg gott myacutekjandi krem sem hefur reynst vel hjaacute

moumlrgum

Vocabulary notes saacuterabindi (-s -) gauze verkjatafla painkiller soacutetthreinsandi disinfectant (-u -ur) adj hitamaeliglir thermometer hrufla (hrufla scrape onersquos (-is -ar) m hruflaethi skin andlitskrem from andlit (-s -)hruflaeth) sig lsquofacersquo and krem joethaacuteburethur from joeth (-s) (-s -) lsquocreamrsquo lsquoiodinersquo and myacutekja (myacuteki lsquosoftenrsquo aacuteburethur (-ar) myacutekti myacutekt) lsquoointmentrsquo acc lsquocreamrsquo

Dialogue 4

Exercise 4

While in Iceland you have caught a bad cold so you visit a pharmacy to get some medicine Fill in the gaps in the following dialogue

APOacuteTEKARI Get eacuteg aethstoethaeth thornig


YOU (1 Yes thank you I have a cold and I need something against nasal congestion) ________________________________________

APOacuteTEKARI Nefuacuteetha jaacute Nokkueth fleira YOU (2 Yes I would like painkillers I have such a bad

headache) ________________________________________ APOacuteTEKARI Gjoumlrethu svo vel Er thornaacute allt komieth YOU (3 No I would also like a cough syrup and do you have anything to relieve a sore

throat) ________________________________________ APOacuteTEKARI Sjaacutelfsagt THORNessar fjallagrasahaacutelstoumlflur eru til daeligmis aacutegaeligtar Iacute thorneim eru

naacutettuacuteruleg efni sem myacutekja haacutelsinn You (4 Are they very expensive) ________________________________________ APOacuteTEKARI THORNaeligr eru aacute sama verethi og flestar aethrar haacutelstoumlflur You (5 Good then Irsquoll take them That will be everything thank you)

________________________________________

Language points

Present perfect what has happened what happened a long time ago

As in English the present perfect is formed with the auxiliary verb hafa followed by the past participle of the main verb It is used to indicate past tense but with reference to the present for example because it concerns an action or event that has repeated itself and may be repeated in the future or something that is still the case

Hann hefur aldrei komieth til Iacuteslands He has never been to Iceland Eacuteg hef seacuteeth thornessa mynd aacuteethur I have seen this film before Hefurethu nokkurn tiacutema heyrt annaeth eins Have you ever heard anything like it Eacuteg tek verkjatoumlflu thornegar eacuteg hef borethaeth Irsquoll take an aspirin when Irsquove eaten

Note that in the present perfect the past participle does not change The use of the present perfect here is very much like that of vera buacuteinn aeth which has

a similar link to the present Indeed in the examples above the two constructions are interchangeable Where they differ is in the use of the present perfect to indicate something that happened a long time ago something that cannot be done with vera buacuteinn aeth

Hann hefur komieth til Iacuteslands fyrir moumlrgum aacuterum He visited Iceland many years ago Eacuteg hef seacuteeth myndina fyrir loumlngu I saw this film a long time ago THORNaeth er langt siacuteethan vieth houmlfum farieth til Noregs


It has been a long time since we went to Norway

Note that in the last example Icelandic has the present perfect in a different place from English

Usually the context makes clear whether the present perfect refers to the present (in the form of such adverbs as oft aldrei aacuteethur etc) or to a long gone past (iacute fyrra fyrir loumlngu) Generally if there is no such indication in the sentence the present perfect refers to something that happened a long time ago The following sentences for instance both mean the same

Amma er margoft buacutein aeth fara til laeligknis Amma hefur margoft farieth til laeligknis Granny has often been to the doctor

while these sentences mean two different things

Amma er buacutein aeth fara til laeligknis Granny has been to the doctor Amma hefur farieth til laeligknis Granny went to the doctor (a long time ago)

In the past tense the perfect is used to indicate one point in the past in relation to another past event that is closer to the present

Hann hafethi farieth til laeligknis aacuteethur en hann feacutekk slag He had been to the doctor before he had a stroke Eacuteg hafethi seacuteeth myndina thornegar eacuteg loksins las boacutekina I had seen the film when I finally read the book

Here vera buacuteinn aeth is again fully interchangeable with the present perfect

Hann var buacuteinn aeth fara til laeligknis aacuteethur en hann feacutekk slag Eacuteg var buacutein aeth sjaacute myndina thornegar eacuteg loksins las boacutekina

Finally note also the following use of the present perfect in Icelandic

Eftir aeth hafa lesieth boacutekina var myndin ekki eins skemmtileg After having read the book the film was not as enjoyable Honum batnaethi eftir aeth hafa fengieth lyf He became better after he got some medicine

Exercise 5


Translate the following sentences into Icelandic Sometimes there is more than one possibility

1 I have never been () to Italy 2 I had been to the doctorrsquos before I went to the pharmacy 3 He has smoked for () many years 4 Granddad had a stroke a long time ago but he hasnrsquot been ill since 5 After having taken the medicine I felt much better 6 I had not visited Iceland until I learned Icelandic 7 It has been a long time since we saw you 8 How long have you been in Iceland

Language points

Demonstrative pronouns lsquothisrsquo lsquothatrsquo

Icelandic distinguishes between two different demonstrative pronouns thornessi used for something within visual range and saacute when referring to something that occurs earlier or later on in a sentence or passage

THORNessi hundur heacuterna er ofsalega stoacuter (You can point to it and show just how big it is) Mig vantar hitamaeligli Saacute gamli tyacutendist (You refer back to something you mentioned earlier)

Then therersquos hinn which can mean various things It is often used in combination with thornessi where thornessi means lsquothisrsquo and hinn lsquothatrsquo lsquothe otherrsquo In this instance it can be followed by a noun plus definite article or it can stand on its own

THORNessi hundur er stoacuter og hinn er liacutetill This dog is big and the other is small Eacuteg thornekki thornessa stelpu en ekki hinar stelpurnar I know this girl but not the other girls Hitt og thornetta This and that

Hinn also functions as a separate definite article for special emphasis in formal speech and in certain set expressions As it is related to the suffixed article in Icelandic it follows the exact same declension pattern except that as a separate word it has h- for its initial letter Some examples

hieth opinbera lit lsquothe publicrsquo ie the governmentTHORNetta er hieth minnsta maacutel This is no problem whatsoever

Note however that when hinn is used to mean lsquothatrsquo (above) its neuter singular form is not hieth but hitt as in hitt og thornetta


Demonstrative pronouns function grammatically like definite articles that is to say if you use a demonstrative pronoun any accompanying adjectives will be in the weak declension and the following noun(s) will not have a suffixed definite article The one exception is hinn when it is used to mean lsquothatrsquo lsquothe otherrsquo These are the declension patterns

thornessi saacute masc fem neut masc fem neutsg thornessi thornessi thornetta saacute suacute thornaeth thornennan thornessa thornetta thornann thornaacute thornaeth thornessum thornessari thornessu thorneim thorneirri thornviacute thornessa thornessarar thornessa thorness thorneirrar thornesspl thornessir thornessar thornessi thorneir thornaeligr thornau thornessa thornessar thornessi thornaacute thornaeligr thornau thornessum thornessum thornessum thorneim thorneim thorneim thornessara thornessara thornessara thorneirra thorneirra thorneirra

Exercise 6

Fill in the gaps with the appropriate demonstrative pronoun in its correct form

1 Eacuteg hef ekki lesieth ______ boacutek eftir Laxness en eacuteg hef lesieth ______ baeligkurnar hans 2 Gefethu konunni______ lyfseethil 3 Hann foacuter til Frakklands iacute ______ von aeth hitta vinkonu siacutena 4 Eacuteg get ekki gengieth iacute ______ skoacutem eacuteg aeligtla aeth nota ______ skoacutena iacute staethinn 5 ______ safn heacuterna tengist Njaacutels soumlgu ______ saga er heimsfraeligg 6 Hann foacuter thornangaeth aacute ______ fallega gamla biacutel sem afi hans gaf honum 7 Sagnfraeligethikennarinn okkar segir svo skemmtilega fraacute ______ og ______ sem gerethist

heacuter aacute landi iacute gamla daga 8 Ekki aeligtla eacuteg aeth synda iacute Riacuten Huacuten er ______ skiacutetugasta fljoacutet Evroacutepu

Reading 1

Freacutettagrein

The following article on p 256 is from Morgunblaethieth the largest Icelandic daily newspaper and discusses the price of medicine in Iceland As you will notice the word order is not always the same as that used in daily speech and impersonal constructions tend to occur frequently How much more expensive is medicine in Iceland What is the reason according to the pharmaceutical companies What is the name of the Minister of Health What does she think should be done

Oacutehjaacutekvaeligmilegt aeth lyf seacuteu eitthvaeth dyacuterari heacuter aacute landi FORSVARSMENN lyfjafyrirtaeligkjanna vilja ekki

seacute vissulega reacutett aeth lyf seacuteu vegna smaeligethar markaetharins dyacuterari aacute Iacuteslandi

haeligrra her aacute landi og aeth vinna thornyrfti aeth thornviacute aeth


kannast vieth thornaeth aeth lyf seacuteu 26 dyacuterari heacuter aacute landi en iacute naacutegrannaloumlndunum Segja thorneir aeth skraacuteeth haacutemarksvereth sem lagt er til viethmiethunar thornessum uacutetreikningum eigi ekkert skylt vieth raunverulegt vereth aacute lyfjum her a landi thornoacute aeth thornaeth

en iacute viethmiethunarloumlndunum Fram kom ma iacute raeligethu Ingibjargar Paacutelmadoacutettur heilbrigethisraacuteethherravieth utandagskraacuterumraeligethu um lyfjakostnaeth hins opinbera aacute Althorningi iacutesiacuteethustu viku aeth lyfjavereth vaeligri 26

laeligkka thornaeth hlutfall Sagethi thornoacuterir Haraldsson aethstoetharmaethur raacuteethherra iacute samtali vieth Morgunblaethieth aeth heacuter vaeligri stuethst vieth upplyacutesingar fraacute Tryggingastofnun og Lyfjaverethsnefnd

From Morgunblaethieth 1 Apriacutel 2000 bls 16

Vocabulary notes forsvarsmaethur spokesperson skraacuteethur pp from skraacute lsquoregisteredrsquo lsquorecordedrsquo haacutemarksvereth (-s -) maximum price viethmiethun (-ar -ir) ƒ reference norm criterion uacutetreikningur (-s -ar) calculation eiga skylt vieth acc have to do with bear relation to smaeligeth (-ar) smallness markaethur (-ar -ir) market utandagskraacuterumraeligetha from utan- lsquooutside ofrsquo dagskraacute (-r -r) lsquoagendarsquo umraeligetha (-u -

ur) lsquodiscussionrsquo thornyrfti past subj of thornurfa need hlutfall (-s -) proportion rate ratio styethja (styethmdashstuddimdashstutt) vieth

base on rely on

Exercise 7

Find the words in the article that mean the following bringing them back to their nominative form where necessary

1 pharmaceutical companies 2 neighbouring countries 3 minister of health 4 assistant 5 (Social) Insurance Department 6 Committee for the Prices of Medicine


16 Gangi thorneacuter vel

Good luck In this lesson you will learn about

bull hopes and dreams what ifhellip bull subjunctive past and present bull living in Iceland bull lsquoI said I wouldhelliprsquo indirect speech bull hosts and guests expressing politeness

Dialogue 1

Happdraeligtti

There are various lotteries in Iceland from the small skafmietha-happdraeligtti or lsquoscratch-and-win lotteries to the ones with very large prizes Buying lottery tickets and imagining what you would do if you won is a very popular pastime Aacuteslaug Sif and Kjartan are discussing their chances over a coffee Does Sif play the lottery What would Aacuteslaug do if she won Why would Kjartan not want to win the 20 million

AacuteSLAUG Jaeligja erueth thornieth buacutein aeth kaupa lottoacutemietha SIF Ekki eacuteg eacuteg spila eiginlega aldrei iacute lottoacute nema stundum thornegar eacuteg kaupi meacuter fimmtiacuteu

kroacutena skafmietha AacuteSLAUG Lottoacutespilieth mitt er nuacute ekki meira en svo aeth eacuteg held vieth einni roumleth og kaupi

roumlethina 10 vikur iacute senn En vinningurinn er nuacute orethinn fimmfaldur Hugsieth ykkur aeth vinna 20 milljoacutenir

KJARTAN Hvaeth mundirethu gera ef thornuacute ynnir AacuteSLAUG Sko ef eacuteg ynni 20 milljoacutena kroacutena vinning flytti eacuteg iacute glaeligsi-legt huacutesnaeligethi og

yrethi alveg kaupsjuacutek Eacuteg fengi meacuter alls konar fallegar fliacutekur faeligri uacutet iacute heimsfereth lifethi goacuteethu liacutefi og leacuteki meacuter thornangaeth til allir peningarnir yrethu buacutenir

SIF Og thornuacute Kjartan KJARTAN Eacuteg vildi sannarlega ekki lenda iacute thornviacute oacutelaacuteni aeth faacute svo haacutean vinning Eacuteg held aeth

eacuteg myndi oumlrugglega oacuteska nafnleyndar En ef um verulega upphaeligeth vaeligri aeth raeligetha vaeligri gaman aeth geta spilaeth skynsamlega uacuter goacuteethum vinningi Eacuteg eyddi ekki thornessu oumlllu strax iacute vitleysu Eacuteg saeligi bara eftir thornviacute seinna aeth hafa ekki farieth betur meeth peningana

AacuteSLAUG Iacute alvoumlru Kjartan en leiethinlegt Hvaeth um thornig Sif

SIF AEligtli eacuteg fengi meacuter ekki mjoumlg flottan biacutel og byethi oumlllum vinum miacutenum uacutet aeth boretha aacute mjoumlg fiacutenum veitingastaeth Og svo legethi eacuteg fyrir til aeth maeligta oacutevaeligntum uacutetgjoumlldum og thornyrfti aldrei meir aeth hafa aacutehyggjur af naeligsta Visareikningi

Vocabulary notes happdraeligtti (-s -)lottoacute (-s -) lottery halda (held heacutelt heacuteldum haldieth) think believe (halda vieth lsquokeeprsquo accsubj lsquostick torsquo)

row order series here of course roumleth (-ar -ir) referring to the numbers

iacute senn adv at a time vinningur (-s -ar) prize winnings fimmfaldur adj fivefold here lsquofive times the original winningrsquo

sick ill (nowadays often used in colloquial daily speech to mean lsquocrazyrsquo as in kaupsjuacutekur lit lsquobuy crazyrsquo or vera sjuacutekur iacute acc lsquobe

sjuacutekur adv

crazy aboutrsquo) lenda (lendi lenti lent) iacute dat end up land in oacutelaacuten (-s) misfortune nafnleynd (-ar) ƒ secrecy of name eyetha (eyethi eyddi eytt) dat spend leggja (legg lagethi lagt) fyrir acc put aside uacutetgjoumlld npl costs expenses

Language points

Subjunctive saying what could or might be

The subjunctive is a special verb form used to indicate something unreal in the broadest sense of the word It has different forms for the present and the past

The present subjunctive is used

1 to express a wish or exhortation as in the title of this chapter gangi thorneacuter vel 2 in present tense aeth-clauses after certain verbs notably those expressing reported speech

(segja) or a non-factuality in the form of a wish (oacuteska) hope (vona) belief (halda) expectation (buacuteast vieth) fear (oacutettast vera hraeligddur um) or suspicion (gruna) huacuten segir aeth hann komi eacuteg vona aeth thorneir fari byacutestu vieth aeth eacuteg lesi thornetta mig grunar aeth hann ljuacutegi

3 in present tense interrogative clauses after spyrja Joacuten spyr hvort thornuacute aeligtlir iacute biacuteoacute 4 in present tense clauses after certain conjunctions nema lsquounlessrsquo thornoacute aeththornoacutett

lsquoalthoughrsquo svo aeth lsquoso thatrsquo til thorness aeth lsquo(in order) torsquo eacuteg kem thornoacutett eacuteg seacute veik

Gangi thorneacuter vel 219

The present subjunctive is derived from the infinitive form of the verb What makes the present subjunctive easy to recognize in many cases is the i-ending (except the first person plural) and the fact that no I-shift occurs Here are some paradigms of weak and strong verbs as well as vera which has an irregular present subjunctive

spila flytja fara sjaacute koma vera (irr)eacuteg spil-i flyt-j-i far-i sjaacute-i kom-i seacute thornuacute spil-ir flyt-j-ir far-ir sjaacute-ir kom-ir seacutert hann spil-i flyt-j-i far-i sjaacute-i kom-i seacute vieth spil-um flyt-j-um foumlr-um sjaacute-um kom-um seacuteum thornieth spil-ieth flyt-j-ieth far-ieth sjaacute-ieth kom-ieth seacuteueth thorneir spil-i flyt-j-i far-i sjaacute-i kom-i seacuteu

The past subjunctive is used

1 in past tense aeth-clauses interrogative clauses and after certain conjunctions (see 2 3 and 4 above)

2 in imaginary conditional clauses (which is why you often encountered it in Dialogue 1) Sometimes the conjunction ef precedes these clauses but often it is omitted although in those cases the word order remains reversed Ef eacuteg ynni iacute lottoacute faeligri eacuteg iacute ferethalagmdashYnni eacuteg iacute lottoacute faeligri eacuteg iacute ferethalag Note that the occurrence of ef does not automatically signal a following subjunctive but only if it concerns an imaginary condition Compare for instance eacuteg geri thornaeth ef eacuteg get (lsquoIrsquoll do it if I canrsquo=not imaginary)

3 in polite requests often in combination with such verbs as mega vilja and geta (see below)

Whereas no I-shift occurs in the present subjunctive the I-shift is the most prominent feature of the past subjunctive The past subjunctive is derived from the plural past indicative form of the verb It is essental to remember this because the vowel of this form determines whether and what I-shift will occur This means that for strong verbs you will need to know the vowel of the past tense plural Here are the paradigms for the past subjunctive

spiluethum fluttum foacuterum saacuteum koma vera ugty oacutegtaelig aacutegtaelig (irr) (irr) eacuteg spilaeth-i flytt-i faeligr-i saelig-i kaeligm-i vaeligr-i thornuacute spilaeth-ir flytt-ir faeligr-ir saelig-ir kaeligm-ir vaeligr-ir huacuten spilaeth-i flytt-i faeligr-i saelig-i kaeligm-i vaeligr-i vieth spilueth-um flytt-um faeligr-um saelig kaeligm-um vaeligr-umthornieth spilueth-ueth flytt-ueth faeligr-ueth saelig-ueth kaeligm-ueth vaeligr-ueththornaeligr spilueth-u flytt-u faeligr-u saelig-u kaeligm-u vaeligr-u

Exzercise 1

Go back to Dialogue 1 and find all the subjunctive forms Can you tell whether they are in the present or past subjunctive What are the infinitive forms


Exercise 2

Put the verbs in brackets in the appropriate subjunctive form In each case think why the subjunctive is used and whether you need a present or past subjunctive

1 Straacutekurinn spurethi hvar mamma siacuten _____ (vera) 2 Eacuteg vona aeth eacuteg _____ (sjaacute) ekki eftir thornessu 3 Hann heacutelt aeth huacuten _____ (graacuteta) af sorg frekar en af hlaacutetri 4 Oacutettast er aeth ferethamennirnir _____ (hafa) tyacutenst iacute stoacuterviethrinu 5 Huacuten sagethi aeth boumlrnin _____ (detta) niethur stigann 6 _____ (koma) aeth verkfalli _____ (veretha) afleiethingar alvarlegar 7 _____ (fara) hann til fjandans 8 Hann kemur ekki nema huacuten _____ (koma) liacuteka

Exercise 3

This is what THORNoacuter would do if he won the lottery Write it in Icelandic

Daeligmi He would go on a tripmdashHann faeligri iacute ferethalag

1 He would get himself an expensive car 2 He would continue to work 3 He would pay all his bills 4 He would dress in fancy clothes 5 He would count all his money 6 He would drink champagne every day 7 He would not tell anyone about it 8 He would give his wife a big present

What would you do if you won the lottery

Reading 1

Exercise 4 Reykjaviacutek

The following words have been taken out of the Reykjaviacutek text below Can you put them back in their appropriate spot Use the form of each word to help you determine where it might fit

iacutebuacutearmdashuacutetivistarmdashsjaacutevaruacutetvegimdashferethamennmdashhuacutesmdashbyggingarmdashsumarsinsmdashgoumlmulmdashhoumlfnmdashhoumlfuethborgmdashsoumlgumdashsveitum

Reykjaviacutek er ____(1)____ Islands og eina borg landsins Iacutebuacutear hennar eru ruacutemlega 100000 Huacuten er staeligrsta ____(2)____ og thornar eru liacuteka helstu menningar- og viethskiptastofnanir landsins THORNoacutett Reykjaviacutek seacute ekki stoacuter borg miethaeth vieth milljoacutenaborgir heimsins ber huacuten vissulega althornjoacuteethlegt yfirbrageth


Reykjaviacutekurborg er ekki ____(3)____ thornoacutett huacuten seacute byggeth aacute tuacuteni fyrsta landnema Iacuteslands Ingoacutelfs Arnarsonar sem reisti thornar buacute kringum 874 Eftir thornaeth kemur Reykjaviacutek liacutetieth vieth soumlgu oumlldum saman en mun thornar thornoacute hafa verieth verslunarstaethur snemma aacute 16 oumlld Aacuterieth 1786 voru Reykjaviacutek veitt verslunarreacutettindi Voru ____(4)____ thornaacute um 167 Elsta ____(5)____ borgarinnar Aethalstraeligti 10 er fraacute thornessu tiacutemabili

Aacuterieth 1845 var Althorningi endurreist iacute Reykjaviacutek og aacute siacuteethustu aacuterum 19 aldar byrjaethi oumlr og mikil thornroacuteun iacute ____(6)____ meeth komu veacutelbaacuteta og togara sem stuethlaethi aeth thornviacute aeth auka voumlxt og gengi borgarinnar Aacuterieth 1904 var framkvaeligmdavaldieth flutt fraacute Kaupmannahoumlfn til Reykjaviacutekur Mikill foacutelksflutningur aacutetti seacuter staeth fraacute ____(7)____ til borgarinnar aacute fjoacuteretha og fimmta aacuteratugnum sem aacutetti mikinn thornaacutett iacute thornviacute aeth gamla iacuteslenska baeligndasamfeacutelagieth breyttist iacute nuacutetiacutemasamfeacutelag aacute oumlrstuttum tiacutema Aacuterieth 1950 hafethi iacutebuacuteatalan aukist fraacute 5800um aldamoacutetin iacute 56000

Reykjaviacutek hefur aethdraacutettarafl fyrir baeligethi innlenda og erlenda____ (8)____ thornoacutett af oacuteliacutekum toga seacute Iacute borginni bloacutemstrar mannliacutef og menningarliacutef seacuterstaklega aacute sumrin hvort heldur er iacute miethbaelignum aacute kaffihuacutesum eetha iacute menningarhuacutesum Menningarnoacutett iacute miethborginni er nuacute haacutepunktur ____(9)____ Althorningishuacutesieth Doacutemkirkjan og Raacuteethhuacutesieth eru daeligmi um merkar ____(10)____ gamlar og nyacutejar og iacute THORNjoacuteethminjasafni og Aacuterbaeligjarsafni er haeliggt aeth kynna seacuter ____(11) ____landsins og borgarinnar En thornoacute thornarf ekki heldur aeth fara langt til aeth njoacuteta ____(12)____ thornviacute thornaeth eru margar naacutettuacuteruperlur iacute borgarlandinu thornar sem haeliggt er aeth draga sig iacute hleacute fraacute ysi og thornys borgarliacutefsins

Vocabulary notes miethaeth vieth compared to endurreisa resurrect (from reisa (reisimdashreist) acc lsquoraisersquo lsquobuildrsquo) oumlr adj rapid fast (also prefix lsquoveryrsquo) togari (-a -ar) trawler stuethla (stuethla stuethlaeth) aeth dat help towards assist framkyaeligmdavald (-s -) executive power foacutelksflutningur (-s -ar) migration eiga seacuter staeth take place occur aacute fjoacuteretha og fimmta aacuteratugnum in the 1930s and 1940s eiga mikinn thornaacutett iacute dat play an important part in hafa aethdraacutettarafl fyrir acc be attractive to af oacuteliacutekum toga (spunninn) of a different kindorigin draga sig iacute hleacute retreat withdraw ys og thornys tumult hustle and bustle

Exercise 5

Look at the listings below of what is on in Reykjaviacutek Write six sentences in Icelandic saying what you would do or where you would go if you were there right now (note that this is an imaginary situation) There are of course no set answers to this exercise it depends on your interests



Dialogue 2

Huacutesnaeligethi

THORNoacuterey has had to move from her home town Egilsstaethir to Reykjaviacutek where she will be going to university She has found herself a small flat and has just moved in She is phoning her mother to tell her the news

THORNOacuteREY Saeligl mamma Nuacute er eacuteg flutt inn iacute nyacuteju iacutebuacuteethina miacutena MAMMA Til hamingju meeth thornaeth elskan Hvernig er iacutebuacuteethin og hvernig liacutekar thorneacuter THORNOacuteREY THORNetta er aacutegaeligtis iacutebuacuteeth thornoacute ekkert stoacuterglaeligsileg Huacuten er iacute fjoumllbyacutelishuacutesi aacute thornriethju haeligeth

og thornetta er tveggja herbergja iacutebuacuteeth Huacuten er liacutetil en bjoumlrt og aacute mjoumlg goacuteethum staeth iacute borginni naacutelaeliggt haacuteskoacutelanum Og svo er liacutetieth en thornaeliggilegt eldhuacutes meeth iacutesskaacutep og eldaveacutel og eacuteg hef aethgang aeth thornvottahuacutesi niethri iacute kjallaranum

MAMMA Hvernig er leigan er huacuten mjoumlg dyacuter THORNOacuteREY Ekki svo mjoumlg 30000 aacute maacutenuethi MAMMA Og ertu buacutein aeth faacute huacutesgoumlgn THORNOacuteREY THORNaeth er enn byacutesna toacutemt heacuterna inni En eacuteg keypti meacuter gamlan soacutefa og stoacutel og eacuteg

er meeth liacutetieth eldhuacutesboreth sem thornjoacutenar sem skrifboreth Eacuteg er ekki meeth ruacutem ennthornaacute en vinkona miacuten laacutenaethi meacuter dyacutenu

MAMMA Ertu meeth skaacutepa THORNOacuteREY THORNaeth er piacutenuliacutetill fataskaacutepur iacute svefnherberginu og nokkrir skaacutepar iacute eldhuacutesinu MAMMA Heyrethu THORNoacuterey vieth pabbi aeligtlum aeth keyra suethur um naeligstu helgi meeth alls konar

doacutet uacuter hjoacutelhyacutesinu gamla sem vieth notum ekki lengur potta poumlnnur diska bolla skaacutelar hniacutefapoumlr ruacutemfoumlt handklaeligethi viskustykkihellip

THORNOacuteREY Elsku mamma miacuten thornaeth liggur ekkert aacute thornetta reddast hafethu engar aacutehyggjur MAMMA Eacuteg veit thornaeth en vieth soumlgethumst koma meeth doacutet handa thorneacuter thornegar thornuacute vaeligrir buacutein aeth

finna thorneacuter iacutebuacuteeth og vieth erum aacutekveethin iacute thornviacute aeth gera thornaeth sem allra fyrst THORNOacuteREY Allt iacute lagi thornaacute Eacuteg hlakka til aeth sjaacute ykkur

Vocabulary notes aacutegaeligtis- fine aethgangur (-s) access entrancehaeligeth (-ar -ir) floor huacutesgoumlgn npl furniture

dyacutena (-u -ur) mattress thornetta reddast itrsquoll be okay doacutet (-s) stuff sem allra fyrst as soon as possiblehjoacutelhyacutesi (-s -) caravan


Vocabulary connected with housing 1 Hyacutebyacuteli einbyacutelishuacutes single home fjoumllbyacutelishuacutes duplex triplexhellip iacutebuacuteeth flat apartment blokk block of flats apartment building 2 Herbergi stofa living room borethstofa dining room gangur hallway stigi stairs staircase svefnherbergi bedroom baethherbergi bathroom salernikloacutesett WC loft attic gluggi window kjallari cellar basement veggur wall goacutelf floor thornak roof 3 Taeligki (upp) thornvottaveacutel (dish)washing machine oumlrbylgjuofn microwave kaeligliskaacutepur iacutesskaacutepur fridge eldaveacutel stove samstaeligetha music centre haacuterthornurrka hair dryer rakveacutel razor tengill kloacuter plug plug-in

4 Huacutesgoumlgn soacutefi sofa (boacuteka)skaacutepur (book) case cupboard arinn m fireplace teppi carpet hilla shelf kommoacuteetha chest of drawers skuacuteffa drawer gluggakista window sill gardiacutenagluggatjald curtain ruacutemfoumlt bed linen koddi pillow spegill mirror sturta shower saacutepa soap ofn heater radiator oven (tann)bursti greietha (tooth)brush comb handklaeligethi towel vaskur krani sink tap (vekjara)klukka (alarm) clock 5 Buacutesaacutehoumlld diskur plate bolli cup hnifapoumlr (hniacutefurmdashgaffallmdashskeieth) cutlery (lsquoknifersquo lsquoforkrsquo lsquospoonrsquo) pottur pot panna pan skaacutel bowl viskustykki dish cloth tea towel

Exercise 6

Write a description of your own home in Icelandic (you may want to brush up on prepositions and their cases before doing this exercise) There is a sample answer at the back Compare Aacuteslaugrsquos flat to your ownmdashhow are they different

Language points

Reported speech

Reporting what someone said can be done in two ways in Icelandic Whenever people report what they themselves said Icelandic uses the middle voice usually of the verb segja followed by the infinitive of the main verb This way repetition of the subject (as in English lsquoI said Ihelliprsquo) is avoided You have already encountered an example in Dialogue


2 vieth soumlgethumst aeligtla aeth koma lsquowe said we would comersquo In these instances there is no need to use the subjunctive because you use an infinitive Here are some more examples

Eacuteg sagethi lsquoEacuteg fer ekki iacute baeliginn iacute dagrsquogtEacuteg sagethist ekki fara iacute baeliginn iacute dag

I said I would not go into town today THORNeir segja lsquoVieth nennum thornviacute ekkirsquogtTHORNeir segjast ekki nenna thornviacute They say they donrsquot care todonrsquot feel like it

Reporting what someone else said usually involves a so-called aethclause (Hann sagethi aethhellip lsquoHe said thathelliprsquo) or if it concerns a question an interrogative clause (Huacuten spurethi hvorthvarhvenaeligr helliplsquoShe asked whetherwherewhenhelliprsquo) Earlier in this lesson you learned that these clauses take a subjunctive The question is when to use which tense If the lsquoreporting verbrsquo (ie segja spyrja etc) is in the present tense then the subordinate clause will have the present subjunctive and if it is in the past tense the subordinate clause will have the past subjunctive

THORNoacuterey segir lsquoIacutebuacuteethin er aacutegaeligtrsquogtTHORNoacuterey segir aeth iacutebuacuteethin seacute aacutegaeligt THORNoacuterey says her flat is fine

THORNau spurethu lsquoEr huacuten dyacuterrsquogtTHORNau spurethu hvort huacuten vaeligri dyacuter They asked whether it was expensive

If what is reported is in the past tense however the subordinate clause will be in the present perfect with auxiliary hafa in the subjunctive The tense of the subjunctive will be the same as that of the reporting verb

THORNoacuterey segir lsquoIacutebuacuteethin var aacutegaeligtrsquo gtTHORNoacuterey segir aeth iacutebuacuteethin hafi verieth aacutegaeligt THORNoacuterey says that her flat has been fine THORNau spurethu lsquoVar huacuten dyacuterrsquo gtTHORNau spurethu hvort huacuten hefethi verieth dyacuter They asked whether it had been expensive

If what is reported has an impersonal construction or a possessive pronoun in it that refers to the lsquoreporterrsquo you cannot use the middle voice construction Instead you use a subordinate clause according to the rules outlined above but in which the pronoun in question is made reflexive

Aacuteki segir lsquoMeacuter liacuteethur ekki velrsquo gtAacuteki segir aeth seacuter liacuteethi ekki vel THORNoacuterey sagethi lsquoIacutebuacuteethin miacuten er bjoumlrtrsquo gtTHORNoacuterey sagethi aeth iacutebuacuteethin siacuten vaeligri

bjoumlrt

Exercise 7

Rephrase the following sentences using indirect (reported) speech Remember to pay attention to tense subjunctive or middle voice and pronouns referring to the subject


Daeligmi Joacuten segir lsquoMig langar iacute iacutesrsquo gtJoacuten segir aeth sig langi iacute iacutes

1 Eacuteg segi lsquoEacuteg hef aldrei komieth til Iacuteslands aacuteethurrsquo 2 Barnieth sagethi lsquoMeacuter finnst graelignmeti vontrsquo 3 Mamma spyr lsquoHvar varstu iacute gaeligrkvoumlldirsquo 4 Pabbi spurethi lsquoAf hverju horfethirethu svo einkennilega aacute mig ()rsquo 5 THORNoacuterey spurethi lsquoKomieth thornieth aacute morgunrsquo

Exercise 8

Go back to Exercise 6 Imagine Aacuteslaug described her flat to you and you want to tell a mutual friend what she said Report her description using indirect speech (present tense)

Dialogue 3

Gestir iacute kaffi

THORNoacuterey has invited her landlord and landlady Joacutehann and Guethbjoumlrg an elderly couple living on the ground floor of the house for afternoon coffee so they can see the flat and get to know her a little better Why does Guethbjoumlrg want to sit in the chair What would she like with her coffee What would THORNoacuterey like to see fixed in her flat

THORNOacuteREY Komieth thornieth saeligl og blessueth og gangieth iacute baeliginn JOacuteHANN Saeligl vertu THORNoacuterey og thornakka thorneacuter fyrir THORNOacuteREY Gjoumlrieth thornieth svo vel og faacuteieth ykkur saeligti GUethBJOumlRG Gaeligti eacuteg fengieth meacuter saeligti heacuter iacute thornessum stoacutel Eacuteg er svo slaeligm iacute bakinu og

kaeligmist oumlrugglega ekki aftur upp uacuter soacutefanum THORNOacuteREY Aeth sjaacutelfsoumlgethu Guethbjoumlrg gjoumlrethu svo vel Jaeligja heacuterna er kaffieth THORNaeligtti ykkur gott

aeth faacute rjoacutema uacutet iacute JOacuteHANN Jaacute takk thornaeth vaeligri mjoumlg gott GUethBJOumlRG Maeligtti eacuteg biethja um molasykur Meacuter thornykir molasykur svo goacuteethur meeth

kaffinu THORNOacuteREY Sjaacutelfsagt eacuteg skal naacute iacute hann en gjoumlrieth svo vel og faacuteieth ykkur koumlkusneieth JOacuteHANN Takk fyrir THORNetta er alveg fyrirtakskaka THORNoacuterey miacuten THORNaeth var mjoumlg fallegt af thorneacuter

aeth bjoacuteetha okkur iacute kaffi GUethBJOumlRG Jaacute reacutett er thornaeth Vildirethu reacutetta meacuter koumlkudiskinn THORNoacuterey takk JOacuteHANN Hvernig liacutekar thorneacuter svo THORNoacuterey Er ekki allt iacute lagi meeth iacutebuacuteethina THORNOacuteREY Juacute juacute huacuten er fiacuten eacuteg er mjoumlg aacutenaeliggeth THORNaeth thornyrfti kannski aetheins aeth laga

fraacuterennslieth thornaeth virethist vera svoliacutetieth stiacuteflaeth JOacuteHANN THORNaeth gaeligti vel verieth jaacute Eacuteg skal athuga thornaeth iacute fyrramaacutelieth Jaeligja THORNoacuterey vieth

Guethbjoumlrg aeligttum aeth koma okkur THORNaeth er orethieth framorethieth THORNakka thorneacuter kaeligrlega fyrir kaffieth

GUethBJOumlRG Jaacute takk fyrir mig elskan thornetta var indaeliglt THORNOacuteREY Verethi ykkur aeth goacuteethu og takk fyrir komuna


Vocabulary notes faacute uacutet iacute (kaffieth) acc have in onersquos coffee molasykur (-s) m lump sugar traditionally held between the teeth while drinking coffee

fyrirtaks excellent thornaeth var fallegt af thorneacuter it was very nice of youfraacuterennsli (-s -) drain

Language points

Hosts and guests ways of expressing politeness

It is probably clear to you by now that Icelandic has slightly different ways of expressing politeness than English When talking to strangers in shops or with friends elaborate politeness is considered rather unnecessary This does not mean however that politeness is not an issue For instance one could argue that while Icelanders donrsquot go out of their way to say lsquopleasersquo they generally do tend to express their thanks more elaborately and on more occasions than happens in English

Politeness is expressed through greater formality when dealing with people you donrsquot know very well particularly when the people concerned are older than you are as in the dialogue above or the situation is rather formal Certain formulaic phrases of formality are used in such situations most of which you already learned at the beginning of this course and requests and invitations are couched in the non-assertive or tentative past subjunctive The auxiliary verbs used in these situations are geta vilja mega thornykja thornurfa eiga aeth lsquoshouldrsquo It is thus worthwhile to know these verbs in their past subjunctive forms You already encountered them in Dialogue 3 Another way of sounding more polite is to add the phrase gjoumlragera svo vel aethhellip lsquoplease be so good as tohelliprsquo either in combination with vilja or in the imperative

Viltu gjoumlra svo vel aeth reacutetta meacuter koumlkudisk Would you please (be so good as to) hand me a cake dish or Gjoumlrethu svo vel og reacutettu meacuter koumlkudisk Hand me a cake dish would you please

Exercise 10

The following requests would be appropriate in an informal situation Can you rephrase them for a more formal occasion

1 Reacutettu meacuter mjoacutelkina

2 Gefethu meacuter eld

3 Meacuter thornykir gott konfekt meeth kaffinu


4 Maacute eacuteg faacute meira kaffi

5 Get eacuteg fengieth vatnsglas

6 Aacute eacuteg aeth koma meeth thorneacuter

7 Viltu dansa

Reading 2

Fyrsta thornakiacutebuacuteeth aacute Iacuteslandi opnueth almenningi

Einar Joacutensson (1874ndash1954) is one of Icelandrsquos most famous sculptors Several of his sculptures depicting prominent figures from Icelandic history adorn central Reykjaviacutek The museum dedicated to his work is also located in Reykjaviacutek When will the flat be open to the public Whatrsquos so special about the flat Whatrsquos currently happening to it What is remarkable about the flatrsquos furniture

Fraacute og meeth deginum iacute dag verethur iacutebuacuteeth Einars Joacutenssonar myndhoumlggvara opin gestum safnsins Iacutebuacuteethin er iacute Listasafni Einars Joacutenssonar en thornar bjuggu hjoacutenin Einar og Anna kona hans fraacute 1923 til 1954 thornegar Einar leacutest

lsquoTHORNaeth maacute segja aeth thornetta seacute fyrsta thornakiacutebuacuteeth aacute Iacuteslandirsquo segir Hrafnhildur Schram forstoumlethumaethur listasafnsinsrsquo Iacutebuacuteethin verethur nuacute hluti af safninu og opin gestum THORNaeth er mjoumlg skemmtilegt aeth opna hana thornaeth faeligrir gesti safnsins naeligr persoacutenu Einarsrsquo Einar innreacutettaethi iacutebuacuteethina og teiknaethi mikieth af huacutesgoumlgnum sem eru iacute henni lsquoHann teiknaethi ma boacutekaskaacutepa sem eru stuethlabergsformaethir og thornaeth er mjoumlg riacutekur thornaacutettur iacute verkum hans En raunar maacute segja aeth huacutesieth sjaacutelft seacute staeligrsti skuacutelptuacuter Einarsrsquo

Listasafn Einars Joacutenssonar verethur 75 aacutera aacute naeligsta aacuteri og af thornviacute tilefni var raacuteethist iacute viethgerethir aacute huacutesinu aeth utan lsquoHuacutesieth var mjoumlg illa farieth Nuacute er verieth aeth skipta um glugga og gera vieth vegginn THORNaeth thornurfti aeth gera vieth allar sprungur skipta um jaacuternverk og siacuteethan verethur settur kvarsmulningur yfir alla byggingunarsquo Framkvaeligmdirnar munu koma til meeth aeth kosta 27 milljoacutenir og hafa thornaeligr gengieth eftir aacuteaeligtlun

From Morgunblaethieth 14 aacuteguacutest 1997 bls 2

Vocabulary notes myndhoumlggvari (-a -ar) sculptor forstoumlethumaethur leader director innreacutetta (innreacutetta inreacutettaethi innreacutettaeth) furnish install acc stuethlaberg (-s -) columnar basalt raacuteethast (raeligethst reacuteethst reacuteethust raacuteethist) iacute acc decide to have viethgereth (-ar -ir) renovations repairs illa farieth in bad condition


sprunga (-u -ur) crack jaacuternverk (-s -) metal work kvarsmulningur (-s) quartz dust koma til meeth aeth kosta will cost eftir aacuteaeligtlun according to plan on schedule


Grammar summary

Nouns and definite articles

Masculine declensions sg nom hattur dagur trefill fugl acc hatt dag trefil fugl gen hatti degi trefli fugli dat hatts dags trefils fugls pl nom hattar dagar treflar fuglar acc hatta daga trefla fugla gen houmlttum doumlgum treflum fuglum dat hatta daga trefla fugla sg maeliglir staethur koumlttur skoacuteli thornaacutetttakandi maeligli staeth koumltt skoacutela thornaacutetttakanda maeligli staeth ketti skoacutela thornaacutetttakanda maeliglis staethar kattar skoacutela thornaacutetttakanda pl maeliglar staethir kettir skoacutelar thornaacutetttakendur maeligla staethi ketti skoacutela thornaacutetttakendur maeliglum stoumlethum koumlttum skoacutelum thornaacutetttakendum maeligla staetha katta skoacutela thornaacutetttakenda With definite article sg hattur-inn maeliglir-inn skoacuteli-nn hatt-inn maeligli-nn skoacutela-nn hatti-num maeligli-num skoacutela-num hatts-ins maeliglis-ins skoacutela-ns pl hattar-nir maeliglar-nir skoacutelar-nir hatta-na maeligla-na skoacutela-na houmlttu-num maeliglu-num skoacutelu-num hatta-nna maeligla-nna skoacutela-nna

Feminine declensions sg borg skeieth spurning stoumleth borg skeieth spurningu stoumleth borg skeieth spurningu stoumleth borgar skeiethar spurningar stoumlethvar pl borgir skeiethar spurningar stoumlethvar borgir skeiethar spurningar stoumlethvar borgum skeiethum spurningum stoumlethvum

borga skeietha spurninga stoumlethva sg helgi stroumlnd roacutet saga helgi stroumlnd roacutet soumlgu helgi stroumlnd roacutet soumlgu helgar strandar roacutetar soumlgu pl helgar strendur raeligtur soumlgur helgar strendur raeligtur soumlgur helgum stroumlndum roacutetum soumlgum helga stranda roacuteta sagna With definite article sg borg-in spurning-in saga-n borg-ina spurningu-na soumlgu-na borg-inni spurningu-nni soumlgu-nni borgar-innar spurningar-innar soumlgu-nnarpl borgir-nar spurningar-nar soumlgur-nar borgir-nar spurningar-nar soumlgur-nar borgu-num spurningu-num soumlgu-num borga-nna spurninga-nna sagna-nnaNeuter declensions sg glas herbergi auga treacute glas herbergi auga treacute glasi herbergi auga treacute glass herbergis auga treacutes pl gloumls herbergi augu treacute gloumls herbergi augu treacute gloumlsum herbergjum augum trjaacutem glasa herbergja augna trjaacutea

With the definite article

sg herbergi-eth auga-eth treacute-eth herbergi-eth auga-eth treacute-eth herbergi-nu auga-nu treacute-nu herbergis-ins auga-ns treacutes-ins pl herbergi-n augu-n treacute-n herbergi-n augu-n treacute-n herberju-num augu-num trjaacute-num herbergja-nna augna-nna trjaacute-nna

Grammar summary 232

Adjectives strong declension

Singular nominative endings


______t

___(ethgtt) t

____(V)tt

___(C+dgtt)

___(C+t)0 sg Masculine Feminine Neuter hviacutetur heill haacuter hviacutet heil haacute hviacutett heilt haacutett hviacutetan heilan haacutean hviacuteta heila haacutea hviacutett heilt haacutett hviacutetum heilum haacuteum hviacutetri heilli haacuterri hviacutetu heilu haacuteu hviacutets heils haacutes hviacutetrar heillar haacuterrar hviacutets heils haacutes pl hviacutetir heilir haacuteir hviacutetar heilar haacutear hviacutet heil haacute hviacuteta heila haacutea hviacutetar heilar haacutear hviacutet heil haacute hviacutetum heilum haacuteum hviacutetum heilum haacuteum hviacutetum heilum haacuteum hviacutetra heilla haacuterra hviacutetra heilla haacuterra hviacutetra heilla haacuterrairregular sg mikill stoacuter mikil stoacuter mikieth stoacutert mikinn stoacuteran mikla stoacutera mikieth stoacutert miklum stoacuterum mikilli stoacuterri miklu stoacuteru mikils stoacuters mikillar stoacuterrar mikils stoacuters pl miklir stoacuterir miklar stoacuterar mikil stoacuter mikla stoacutera miklar stoacuterar mikil stoacuter miklum stoacuterum miklum stoacuterum miklum stoacuterum mikilla stoacuterra mikilla stoacuterra mikilla stoacuterra

Like mikill goes liacutetill like stoacuter go all adjectives without an ending including laus jafn etc

sg fagur foumlgur fagurt opinn opin opieth fagran fagra fagurt opinn opna opieth foumlgrum fagurri foumlgru opnum opinni opnu fagurs fagurrar fagurs opins opinnar opins pl fagrir fagrar foumlgur opnir opnar opin fagra fagrar foumlgur opna opnar opin foumlgrum foumlgrum foumlgrum opnum opnum opnum fagurra fagurra fagurra opinna opinna opinna

Grammar summary 233

Like fagur go adjectives with two-stem syllables and without an ending Like opinn go all adjectives with two syllables ending in -inn including past participles

Adjectives weak declension masculine feminine neuter sg nom ______i ______a ______a acc ______a ______a

dat ______a ______a

gen ______a ______a

pl


Personal pronouns sg eacuteg thornuacute hann huacuten thornaeth mig thornig hann hana thornaeth meacuter thorneacuter honum henni thornviacute miacuten thorniacuten hans hennar thorness pl vieth thornieth thorneir thornaeligr thornau okkur ykkur thornaacute thornaeligr thornau okkur ykkur thorneim thorneim thorneim okkar ykkar thorneirra thorneirra thorneirra

Possessive pronouns masc fem neut masc fem neut sg minn miacuten mitt thorninn thorniacuten thornitt minn miacutena mitt thorninn thorniacutena thornitt miacutenum minni miacutenu thorniacutenum thorninni thorniacutenu miacutens minnar miacutens thorniacutens thorninnar thorniacutens pl miacutenir miacutenar miacuten thorniacutenir thorniacutenar thorniacuten miacutena miacutenar miacuten thorniacutena thorniacutenar thorniacuten miacutenum minum miacutenum thorniacutenum thorniacutenum thorniacutenum minna minna minna thorninna thorninna thorninna masc fem neut sg sinn siacuten sitt sinn siacutena sitt siacutenum sinni siacutenu siacutens sinnar siacutens pl siacutenir siacutenar siacuten siacutena siacutenar siacuten siacutenum siacutenum siacutenum

Grammar summary 234

sinna sinna sinna

Demonstrative pronouns thornessi saacute masc fem neut masc fem neut sg thornessi thornessi thornetta saacute suacute thornaeth thornennan thornessa thornetta thornann thornaacute thornaeth thornessum thornessari thornessu thorneim thorneirri thornviacute thornessa thornessarar thornessa thorness thorneirrar thorness pl thornessir thornessar thornessi thorneir thornaeligr thornau thornessa thornessar thornessi thornaacute thornaeligr thornau thornessum thornessum thornessum thorneim thorneim thorneim thornessara thornessara thornessara thorneirra thorneirra thorneirra hinn Interrogative pronoun hver sg hinn hin hitthieth hver hver hverthvaeth hinn hina hitthieth hvern hverja hverthvaeth hinum hinni hinu hverjum hverri hverju hins hinnar hins hvers hverrar hvers

pl hinir hinar hin hverjir hverjar hver hina hinar hin hverja hverjar hver hinum hinum hinum hverjum hverjum hverjum hinna hinna hinna hverra hverra hverra

Dual and plural indefinite pronouns allir nokkrir sg masc fem neut masc fem neut allur oumlll allt nokkur nokkur nokkuethnokkurt allan alla allt nokkurn nokkra nokkuethnokkurt oumlllum allri oumlllu nokkrum nokkurri nokkru alls allrar alls nokkurs nokkurrar nokkurs pl allir allar oumlll nokkrir nokkrar nokkur alla allar oumlll nokkra nokkrar nokkur oumlllum oumlllum oumlllum nokkrum nokkrum nokkrum allra allra allra nokkurra nokkurra nokkurra baacuteethir yacutemsir pl masc fem neut masc fem neut baacuteethir baacuteethar baeligethi yacutemsir yacutemsar yacutemis baacuteetha baacuteethar baeligethi yacutemsa yacutemsar yacutemis baacuteethum baacuteethum baacuteethum yacutemsum yacutemsum yacutemsum beggja beggja beggja yacutemissa yacutemissa yacutemissa

Grammar summary 235

Negative pronouns enginn sg masc fem neut pl masc fem neut enginn engin ekkert engir engar engin engan enga ekkert enga engar engin engum engri engu engum engum engum einskis engrar einskis engra engra engra

Numerals sg masc fem neut pl masc fem neut einn ein eitt einir einar ein einn eina eitt eina einar ein einum einni einu einum einum einum eins einnar eins einna einna einna

All plural numerals (tvennir thornrennir fernir) decline like einir masc fem neut masc fem neut masc fem neut pl tveir tvaeligr tvouml thornriacuter thornrjaacuter thornrjuacute fjoacuterir fjoacuterar fjoumlgur tvouml tvaeligr tvouml thornrjaacute thornrjaacuter thornrjuacute fjoacutera fjoacuterar fjoumlgur

tveimur thornremur fjoacuterum tveggja thornriggja fjoumlgurra

I-shift a changes to e as in takamdashtek faramdashfer o changes to e as in komamdashkem ouml changes to e as in doumlkkurmdashdekkri koumltturmdashkettiraacute changes to aelig as in faacute-faelig oacute changes to aelig as in stoacutermdashstaeligrri uacute buacuteamdashbyacute juacute changes to yacute as in fljuacutegamdashflyacuteg

brjoacutetamdashbryacutet

u changes to y as in ungurmdashyngri sonurmdashsynir au changes to ey as in aukamdasheyk

Verbs weak Pres œtla heyra thornegja velja eacuteg aeligtla heyri thornegi vel thornuacute aeligtlar heyrir thornegir velur huacuten aeligtlar heyrir thornegir velur vieth aeligtlum heyrum thornegjum veljum

Grammar summary 236

thornieth aeligtlieth heyrieth thornegioacute veljieth thornaeligr aeligtla heyra thornegja velja Past aeligtlaethi heyrethi thornagethi valdi

aeligtlaethir heyrethir thornagethir valdir aeligtlaethi heyrethi thornagethi valdi aeligtluethum heyrethum thornoumlgethum voumlldumaeligtluethueth heyrethueth thornoumlgethueth voumlldueth

aeligtluethu heyrethu thornoumlgethu voumllethu Pres hafa thornvo snuacutea naacute hef thornvaelig snyacute naelig hefur thornvaeligreth snyacutereth naeligreth hefur thornvaeligr snyacuter naeligr houmlfum thornvoum snuacuteum naacuteum hafieth thornvoieth snuacuteieth naacuteieth hafa thornvo snuacutea naacute Past hafethi thornvoethi sneacuteri naacuteethi hafethir thornvoethir sneacuterir naacuteethir hafethi thornvoethi sneacuteri naacuteethi houmlfethum thornvoethum sneacuterum naacuteethum houmlfethueth thornvoethueth sneacuterueth naacuteethueth houmlfethu thornvoethu sneacuteru naacuteethu

Verbs strong Pres biacuteta ljuacutega stoumlkkva sofa sitja eacuteg biacutet lyacuteg stekk sef sit thornuacute biacutetur lyacutegur stekkur sefur situr hann biacutetur lyacutegur stekkur sefur situr vieth biacutetum ljuacutegum stoumlkkvum sofum sitjumthornieth biacutetieth ljuacutegieth stoumlkkvieth sofieth sitjieth thorneir biacuteta ljuacutega stoumlkkva sofa sitja Past beit laug stoumlkk svaf sat beist laugst stoumlkkst svafst sast beit laug stoumlkk svaf sat bitum lugum stukkum svaacutefum saacutetum bitueth lugueth stukkueth svaacutefueth saacutetueth bitu lugu stukku svaacutefu saacutetu Pres falla hlaupa faacute fara buacutea fell hleyp fer faelig byacute fellur hleypur fereth faeligreth byacutereth fellur hleypur fer faeligr byacuter foumlllum hlaupum foumlrum faacuteum buacuteum fallieth hlaupieth farieth faacuteieth buacuteieth falla hlaupa fara faacute buacutea

Past feacutell hljoacutep foacuter feacutekk bjoacute

Grammar summary 237

feacutellst hljoacutepst foacuterst feacutekkst bjoacutest feacutell hljoacutep foacuter feacutekk bjoacute feacutellum hlupum foacuterum fengum bjuggum feacutellueth hlupueth foacuterueth fengueth bjuggueth feacutellu hlupu foacuteru fengu bjuggu

Verbs subjunctive Pres spila flytja fara sjaacute koma vera (irr)eacuteg spili flytji fari sjaacutei komi seacute thornuacute spilir flytjir farir sjaacuteir komir seacutert hann spili flytji fari sjaacutei komi seacute vieth spilum flytjum foumlrum sjaacuteum komum seacuteum thornieth spilieth flytjieth farieth sjaacuteieth komieth seacuteueth thorneir spili flytji fari sjaacutei komi seacuteu Past spiluethum fluttum foacuterum saacuteum koma vera ugty oacutegtœ aacutegtœ (irr) (irr) eacuteg spilaethi flytti fœri sœi kœmi vœri thornuacute spilaethir flyttir fœrir sœir kœmir vœrir huacuten spilaethi flytti fœri sœi kœmi vœri vieth spiluethum flyttum fœrum sœum kœmum vœrum thornieth spiluethueth flyttueth fœrueth sœueth kœmueth vœrueth thornaeligr spiluethu flyttu fœru sœu kœmu vœru

Verbs past participles

-a- group -aeth or -ast (middle voice) aeligtlamdashaeligtlaeth kallastmdashkallast -i- group -t (middle voice -t dropped before -st) sendamdashsent kyssastmdashkysst All other groups past participle ends in -ieth (middle voice -ist) with the following

vowel changes Stem vowel PP vowel weak verbs -e -a semjamdashsamieth -yyacute- -uuacute- flyacutejamdashfluacuteid strong verbs -iacute- -i- biacutetamdashbitieth -joacutejuacuteuacute- -o- fljuacutegamdashflogieth -e(j)a- -o- gjaldamdashgoldieth -i- -ue- finnamdashfundieth sitjamdashsetieth -e- -e- lesamdashlesieth gefamdashgefieth

Grammar summary 238

Glossary of grammatical terms accusative case (form) indicating an object position of a noun or other nominal with a

verb or preposition governing this case (usually direct object) adjective describes a noun eg lsquoa clean tablersquo where lsquocleanrsquo describes the noun lsquotablersquo adverb describes any part of speech other than a noun agent subject performing the action described by the (main) verb antonym word which has an opposite meaning to another word article definite Engl lsquothersquo indefinite Engl lsquoa(n)rsquo cardinal number regular number denoting quantity (Engl lsquoone two three helliprsquo) cases different forms nominals take on to reflect their position in a sentence There are

four in Icelandic one for the subject position (nominative) and three for objects (accusative dative genitive) where the verb or preposition in the sentence determines which of three object cases the nominal takes on

comparative form of adjective or adverb indicating a higher degree (Engl lsquomorersquo lsquo-errsquo) compound word made up of two or more individual words (Engl lsquotoothpastersquo) conjugation process whereby a verb is given different endings to reflect the person (first

second or third) and number (singular or plural) of the subject conjunction word used to connect sentences clauses and words (Engl lsquoandrsquo lsquobutrsquohellip) dative case (form) indicating one of three object positions of a noun or other nominal

(the indirect object where applicable) declension process whereby a nominal takes on different forms reflecting case gender

and number The strong (adjectives) declension pattern is used when the adjective describes an indefinite noun (ie without the definite article demonstrative or possessive pronoun) the weak (adjectives) declension pattern is used when the adjective describes a definite noun (with definite article demonstrative or possessive pronoun or a personal name) or is a superlative or an ordinal number In the weak declension all endings consist of vowels

direct object see object demonstrative see pronoun demonstrative ending final part of a word which changes as a result of declension or conjugation fraction dropping of the second stem vowel of nouns and adjectives when an ending

beginning with a vowel is added to the stem genitive case (form) of a noun or other nominal indicating ownership or an object

position where the verb or preposition governs the genitive imperative verb form telling people what to do and what not to do as in English lsquoGorsquo impersonal construction sentence or clause where the supposed subject is in an object

case indeclinable nominal which is not subject to declension ie does not change its form indirect object see object indirect speech sentence where someonersquos words are related by someone else (Engl

lsquoShe says thathelliprsquo)

infinitive basic verb form which does not reflect any person number tense etc (lsquodictionary formrsquo of the verb)

intensifier word (often an adverb adjective or prefix) used to give special force or emphasis

interjection exclamation (as part of speech) interrogative word used to formulate a question particularly asking for specific

information (Engl lsquowh-rsquo words Icel lsquohv-rsquo words) intransitive verb verb that does not take an object middle voice Icelandic verb form ending in lsquo-strsquo used in many instances to indicate

reciprocity reflexivity or a passive nominal noun or behaving like a noun ie its form reflects gender number and case nominative case (form) indicating the subject position of a noun or other nominal also

the form which appears in dictionaries and glossaries noun word that indicates (lsquonamesrsquo) someone or something (Engl lsquochairrsquo lsquodogrsquo lsquochildrsquo

lsquoJohnrsquo) In Icelandic all nouns have gender and take on different number and case forms which in turn determine the form of many other nominals in the sentence

number singular (one) or plural (more than one) object part of speech filled by a nominal indicating the object of the action expressed by

the verb A distinction is made between the lsquodirectrsquo object that undergoes or suffers the action directly and an lsquoindirectrsquo object representing the recipient of the action

ordinal form indicating a number in a series (Engl lsquofirst second third helliprsquo) participle word formed from a verb present formed with a specific suffix (Engl lsquo-ingrsquo

Icel lsquo-andirsquo) to use as an adjective noun or adverb indicating something going on in the present (Engl lsquothe singing cookrsquo) past formed with suffix and in the case of strong verbs with vowel change to use as an adjective or noun indicating something that was or has resulted from a past action eg lsquoI have finishedrsquo

passive verbal construction (made with a form of the verb lsquoto bersquo and the past participle) where the object becomes the subject to indicate a lack or irrelevance of agency eg lsquoThe novel is read (by X)rsquo is the passive of lsquoX reads the novelrsquo

past simple verb form indicating something that happened in the past as in lsquoshe left continuous verbal construction made with a form of the verb lsquoto bersquo indicating an action (usually temporary or instantaneous) that was happening in the past as in lsquoshe was leavingrsquo

perfect compound tense (ie formed with more than one word) denoting a fully completed action in the past constructed with a form of the verb lsquoto haversquo and the past participle of the main verb (Engl lsquoI havehad eatenrsquo)

plural noun noun which only ever occurs in the plural form (Engl lsquotrousersrsquo lsquospectaclesrsquo)

possessive indicates ownership see also pronoun possessive prefix element added to the beginning of a word to qualify or adjust its meaning preposition word denoting the direction of the action expressed by the verb (Engl lsquoonrsquo

lsquoinrsquo) present simple verb form indicating something that happens in the present as in lsquoshe

leavesrsquo continuous verbal construction made with a form of the verb lsquoto bersquo indicating an action (usually temporary or instantaneous) that is happening at this moment as in lsquoshe is leavingrsquo


pro-form short word replacing a part of speech clause or sentence eg lsquoShe is gone Is that sorsquo where lsquothatrsquo replaces the previous sentence

pronoun a short word replacing a noun and behaving exactly like it personal Engl lsquoIrsquo lsquoyoursquo lsquohersquo lsquoshersquo lsquoitrsquo lsquowersquo lsquotheyrsquo plural pronoun only or predominantly occurring in the plural form (Engl lsquoallrsquo)

dual same as a plural pronoun but exclusively denoting a plurality of two (Engl lsquobothrsquo) indefinite pronoun denoting a generality (Engl lsquosomersquo) reflexive object pronoun referring back to the subject (Engl lsquomyself lsquoyourselfrsquo)

possessive pronoun indicating ownership (Engl lsquomyminersquo lsquoyour(s)rsquo demonstrative pronoun used to indicate something within visual range or to indicate something mentioned earlier or to be mentioned shortly (Engl lsquothisrsquo lsquothatrsquo)

reciprocity expressing a mutuality or mutual action (Engl lsquoeach otherrsquo) reflexive verb or sentence where the action expressed by the verb is performed on the

subject of the verb (Engl lsquoshe hurt herself) stem the root or main part of a word which remains unchanged (except for vowel

changes and fraction) subject part of speech indicating the performer (agent) of the action expressed by the

verb subjunctive verb form indicating a non-factuality ie wish exhortation incertitude

report imaginary situation etc subordinate clause a secondary or lsquosubrsquosentence which does not constitute a sentence in

itself but modifies the main sentence suffix element added to the end of a word superlative form of adjective or adverb indicating the highest degree (Engl lsquomostrsquo lsquo-

estrsquo) verb word denoting an action impersonal a verb denoting an action that is not conceived to have any agency and thus

has no subject strong category of verbs which form their past tense with the help of a vowel change

(Engl lsquoleavemdashleftrsquo) weak category of verbs which form their past tense with the help of a suffix (Engl

lsquowalkmdashwalkedrsquo)


Key to exercises

Lesson 1

Aacute flugstoumleth Leifs Eiriacutekssonar In Reykjaviacutek right outside the terminal Exercise 1 flugvoumlllur=m taska=ƒ biacutell=m dagur=m kona=ƒ iacuteslenska=ƒ

Englendingur=m stafur=m hjaacutelp=ƒ hotel=n flugstoumleth =ƒ Exercise 2 flugvoumlllurinn taskan biacutellinn konan iacuteslenskan Englendingurinn stafurinn

hjaacutelpin Dialogue 2 From Canada to the Blue Lagoon Exercise 3 1 Goacuteethan daginn 2 Fyrirgefethu getur thornuacute sagt meacuter hvar Doacutemkirkjan er 3

THORNakka thorneacuter kaeligrlega fyrir 4 Jaacute eacuteg er Englendingur 5 THORNakka thorneacuter fyrir Vertu blessaethur Exercise 4 Hvaeth er thornetta THORNetta er 1 ruacuteta 2 steinn 3 boreth 4 stoacutell 5 kirkja 6 (karl)maethur

7 roacutes 8 kona 9 verslun 10 biacutell Exercise 5 ruacutetan steinninn borethieth stoacutellinn kirkjan maethurinn roacutesin konan

verslunin biacutellinn Exercise 6 1 huacuten er aeth vinna 2 hann er aeth lesa 3 barnieth er aeth drekka 4 barnieth (thornaeth) er

aeth boretha Exercise 7 There are no set answers for this exercise it depends on you Here are

some sample answers 10 am eacuteg er aeth vinna 1 pm eacuteg er aeth boretha 5 pm eacuteg er aeth fara 9 pm eacuteg er aeth lesa

Siacutemtal Eimskip Aberdeen Scotland Exercise 8 Women Helga Bjoumlrg Ingigerethur Jakobiacutena Kristiacuten Men Helgi Hlynur

Hjalti Ingimar Kristinn Ingimar and Kristiacuten have family names (Schram and Bloumlndal) Exercise 9 1 GunnthornoacuteraHuacuten heitir fullu nafni Gunnthornoacutera Gunnarsdoacutettir 2 Hrafn er

Oacutelafsson 3 THORNoacutera er Einarsdoacutettir 4 Eacuteg heitihellip5 Eacuteg erhellip -doacutettir-son

Lesson 2

Spjall Elva lives in Gimli in Canada Guethruacuten lives in Huacutesaviacutek Elva is Western Icelandic Exercise 1 Taeligland Suethur Afriacuteka FaeligreyskurFaeligreyingar Ruacutessarnir Sviss

Ruacutemeniacuteuruacutemenska Holland Aacutestraliacuteu Noregur Malasiacuteu Skotland Iacutetaliacuteu Frakklandifranskan Bandariacutekin THORNyacuteskaland England Mexiacutekoacute Kanada Danmoumlrk Belgiacutea Iacutesrael Sviacutethornjoacuteeth Austurriacuteki Finnland

Exercise 2 1 saelignskur 2 spaelignskur 3 indverskur 4 skoskur 5 iacutetalskur 6 franskur 7 aacutestralskur 8 thornyacuteskur 9 griacuteskur 10 kiacutenverskur 11 kanadiacuteskur 12 ruacutessneskur 13 japanskur 14 bandariacuteskur

Spjall 2 Elva is writing an article about Reykjaviacutek Guethruacuten is on a computer course Exercise 3 1 Roacutem er iacutetoumllsk borg 2 saelignsk 3 thornyacutesk 4 ruacutessnesk 5 indversk 6 hollensk 7

iacutersk 8 ensk

Exercise 4 Dialogue 1 iacuteslensk=fgteacuteg=Guethruacuten laust=ngtsaeligti iacuteslenskt=ngtnafn vestur-iacuteslensk=fgteacuteg=Elva iacuteslenskur=mgtpabbi Dialogue 2 skemmtileg=ƒgt borg liacutefleg=ƒgtborg

Exercise 5 1 appelsiacutenan er appelsiacutenugul 2 bananinn er gulur 3 grasieth er graelignt 4 himinninn er blaacuter 5 roacutesin er raueth 6 hundurinn er bruacutenn 7 kaffieth er svart 8 viacutenberieth er fjoacutelublaacutett 9 svanurinn er hviacutetur 10 fiacutellinn er graacuter 11 sviacutenieth er bleikt

Hvernig liacutekar peacuter heacuterna She is a marketing director yes she does at the Italian Embassy it is expensive to live in Iceland

Exercise 6 kalt=ngtveethrieth leiethinlegt=ngtveethrieth fallegt=ngt landieth indaeliglt=ngtfoacutelkieth oacutevenjulegur=mgtmaturinn dyacutert=ngt thornaeth gott=ngtstarf margt=ngtfoacutelk skemmtilegt=ngtstarfsfoacutelkieth Dyacuter has no ending in the masculine

Exercise 7 flugstjoacuteri=captain (on an aeroplane) skipstjoacuteri=captain (on a ship) fiskifraeligethingur=ichthyologist boacutekari=bookkeeper accountant biacutelasali=car salesman laeligknaritari=medical secretary piacuteanoacuteleikari=piano player ruacutetubiacutelstjoacuteri=coach driver

Exercise 8 1 Bjoumlrk er soumlngkona 2 Oacutelafur Ragnar Griacutemsson er ekki hjuacutekrunarkona hann er forseti 3 Halldoacuter Laxness er ekki forseti hann er rithoumlfundur 4 Sigmund Freud er saacutelfraeligethingur 5 Leifur Eiriacuteksson er ekki althorningismaethur hann er landkoumlnnuethur 6 Florence Nightingale er ekki maacutelari huacuten er hjuacutekrunarkona 7 Nelson Mandela er ekki rithouml-fundur hann er althorningismaethur 8 Edvard Munch er ekki toumllvufraeligethingur hann er maacutelari 9 Geacuterard Deacutepardieu er leikari 10 Bill Gates er ekki landkoumlnnuethur hann er toumllvufraeligethingur

Exercise 9 1 Bjoumlrk er iacuteslensk 2 Oacutelafur Ragnar Griacutemsson er iacuteslenskur 3 Halldoacuter Laxness er iacuteslenskur 4 Sigmund Freud er austurriacuteskur 5 Leifur Eiriacuteksson er iacuteslenskur 6 Florence Nightingale er ensk 7 Nelson Mandela er suethur-afriacuteskur 8 Edvard Munch er norskur 9 Geacuterard Deacutepardieu er franskur 10 Bill Gates er bandariacuteskur

Exercise 10 huacuten vinnur hann les barnieth drekkur barnieth borethar 10 am eacuteg vinn 1 pm eacuteg boretha 5 pm eacuteg fer 9 pm eacuteg les

Exercise 11 Eacuteg heiti Mark Eacuteg er kanadiacuteskurKanadamaethur Eacuteg er rithoumlfundur og er fraacute Calgary Eacuteg vinn heima Eacuteg tala ensku og er aeth laeligra iacuteslensku Calgary er skemmtileg borg THORNaeth er alltaf mikieth um aeth vera og foacutelkieth er indaeliglt

Exercise 12 1 skaacuteldieth skrifar 2 kokkurinn eldar 3 kennarinn kennir 4 nemandinn laeligrir 5 ritarinn veacutelritar 6 soumllumaethurinn selur 7 sjoacutemaethurinn fiskar 8 piacuteanoacuteleikarinn spilar aacute piacuteanoacute

Exercise 13 1 heiti 2 er 3 er 4 er 5 kenni 6 kenni 7 heitir 8 vinnur 9 er 10 spila 11 les 12 eldar 13 er

Exercise 14 1 thornetta er Tom Hann er fraacute AacutestraliacuteuaacutestralskurAacutestrali Hann er haacutevaxinn og ljoacuteshaeligrethur Hann er giftur Hann er bakariacute og vinnur iacute Brisbane 2 thornetta er Helen Huacuten er fraacute Glasgow Huacuten er Skotiskosk Huacuten er haacuteskoacutelanemi og er aeth laeligra loumlgfraeligethi Huacuten er gift Maethurinn hennar er iacuterskur


Lesson 3

Aacute Akureyri No they donrsquot in Sigurhaeligethir itrsquos morning Exercise 1 1 Juacute vieth toumllum iacuteslensku 2 Juacute vieth forum thornangaeth 3 Jaacute thornau eiga huacutesieth 4 Juacute

vieth kennum toumllvufraeligethi 5 Juacute thornaeligr vinna 6 Jaacute thorneir ganga niethur iacute baelig 7 Juacute vieth laeligrum iacuteslensku 8 Jaacute vieth erum iacute friacutei a Iacuteslandi

Exercise 2 fjoacuterir-sex-fjoacuterir fjoacutertaacuten nuacutell-niacuteu fimm-sex-aacutetta fimmtaacuten fjoumlrutiacuteu-og-priacuter fjoacuterir-aacutetta-sjouml ellefu sjoumltiacuteu-og-tveir fjoacuterir-fimm-einn thornrjaacutetiacuteu-og-tveir sextiacuteu-og-aacutetta fimm-sex-sex sjoumltiacuteu-og-einn tuttugu-ogthornriacuter aacutetta-fimm-fjoacuterir prjaacutetiacuteu-og-sjouml aacutettatiacuteu-og-niacuteu Listening comprehension 561 84 77 453 67 52 437 12 93 561 5871 857 2393

Exercise 4 biacutelarmdashbloumlethmdashkirkjurmdashpennarmdashoumlmmurmdashroacutesirmdashbrauethmdashtoumllvurmdashkennararmdashnoumlfnmdashfyrirtaeligkimdashthornakkirmdashkonurmdashspjoumlllmdashbuacuteethirmdashstoumlrf

biacutellinnmdashbiacutelarnir blaethiethmdashbloumlethin kirkjanmdashkirkjurnar penninnmdashpennarnir ammanmdashoumlmmurnar roacutesinmdashroacutesirnar brauethiethmdashbrauethin toumllvanmdashtoumllvurnar kennarinnmdashkennarnir nafniethmdashnoumlfnin fyrirtaeligkiethmdashfyrirtaeligkin thornoumlkkinmdashthornakkirnar konanmdashkonurnar spjalliethmdashspjoumlllin buacuteethinmdashbuacuteethirnar starfiethmdashstoumlrfin

Enn aacute Akureyri most Icelandic plants Laxdalshuacutes to a cafeacute Exercise 5 einn-tvaeligr-thornrjaacuter-fjoacuterar borgir einn-tveir-thornriacuter-fjoacuterir Iacuteslendingar einn-tveir-

thornriacuter-fjoacuterir fiacutelar ein-tvaeligr-thornrjaacuter-fjoacuterar appelsiacutenur eitt-tvouml-thornrjuacute-fjoumlgur saeligti einn-tveir-thornriacuter-fjoacuterir bananar einn-tveir-thornriacuter-fjoacuterir sjoacutemenn eitt-tvouml-thornrjuacute-fjoumlgur skaacuteld

Exercise 6 tvouml hundrueth og sextiacuteu kr fjoumlgur thornuacutesund thornrjuacute hundrueth sjoumltiacuten og thornrjaacuter kr sex hundrueth og fjoumlrutiacuteu kr sautjaacuten thornuacutesund sjouml hundrueth og fimmtiacuteu kr thornrjuacute hundrueth sjoumltiacuten og tvouml thornuacutesund fjoumlgur hundrueth sextiacuteu og fimm kr fjoacuterar miljoacutenir kr

Listening comprehension 83 kr 2000000 kr 12674 kr 8381 kr Exercise 7

874 Ingoacutelfur Arnarson byggir baelig sem heitir Reykjaviacutek 1000 Kristnitaka aacute IacuteslandimdashLeifur Eiriacuteksson finnur Norethur Ameriacuteku1402ndash(til)1404 Svartidauethi aacute Iacuteslandimdash⅓ Iacuteslendinga deyr 1550 Joacuten Arason biskup haacutelshoumlggvinn Iacutesland tekur luacutetherska truacute 1584 Bibliacutean prentueth aacute iacuteslensku 1700 Iacuteslendingar taka upp gregoriacuteanskt tiacutematal 1750 Tveir iacuteslenskir stuacutedentar ganga fyrstir upp aacute Heklutind 1787 Verslun aacute Iacuteslandi gefin frjaacutels 1874 1000 aacutera byggeth aacute IacuteslandimdashIacutesland faeligr stjoacuternarskraacute 1886 Um 2000 Iacuteslendingar flytja til Kanada 1940 Englendingar hernema Iacutesland 1944 Iacutesland verethur sjaacutelfstaeligtt lyacuteethveldi 1949 Iacutesland gengur iacute NATO 1955 Halldoacuter Laxness faeligr Noacutebelsverethlaun 1980 Vigdiacutes Finnbogadoacutettir verethur forseti Iacuteslands 1986 Reagan og Gorbatsjof funda iacute Reykjaviacutek 2000 Heklugos

Exercise 8 1 tvouml kiacuteloacute(groumlmm) 2 fjoacuterir liacutetrar 3 fimmtaacuten hundrueth fjoumlrutiacuteu og thornrjuacute groumlmm 4 thornrjuacute thornuacutesund eitt hundraeth og fimmtaacuten kiacuteloacutemetrar 5 fimmtaacuten hundrueth thornrjaacutetiacuteu og einn kiacuteloacutemetri 6 fjoacutertaacuten hundrueth sextiacuteu og fjoacuterir kiacuteloacutemetrar


Hvaeth eigum vieth aeth gera No only on Sundays yes she does no they canrsquot Exercise 9 There are of course no set answers to this exercise Here are some sample

answers 1 Klukkan er thornrjuacute 2 Eacuteg fer aeth vinna klukkan aacutetta 3 Eacuteg kem heim klukkan sex 4 Eacuteg

fer aeth sofa klukkan ellefu 5 Buacuteethirnar opna klukkan niacuteu 6 Ruacutetan fer af staeth klukkan tvouml Exercise 10 1 Jaacute eacuteg vinn um helgarNei eacuteg vinn ekki um helgar 2 Jaacute eacuteg er iacute friacutei aacute sumrinNei eacuteg er ekki iacute friacutei aacute sumrin 3 Jaacute eacuteg er heima aacute virkum

doumlgumNei eacuteg er ekki heima aacute virkum doumlgum 4 Eacuteg aacute afmaeligli iacute (januacutear februacutear marshellip) Exercise 11 1 Jaacute hann er opinn um helgar 2 Nei bara laugardagaaacute laugardoumlgum 3

THORNaeth er ekki opieth thornriethjudagaaacute thornriethjudoumlgum 4 Jaacute thornaeth er opieth um helgar 5 Jaacute thornaeth er opieth aacute sumrin

Exercise 12 1 graacuter fiskurmdashgraacuteir fiskar 2 skemmtilegt blaethmdashskemmtileg bloumleth 3 falleg myndmdashfallegar myndir 4 haacutett borethmdashhaacute boreth 5 gamall maethurmdashgamlir menn 6 loumlng vikamdashlangar vikur 7 indaeligl fjoumllskyldamdashindaeliglar fjoumllskyldur 8 raueth roacutesmdashrauethar roacutesir 9 thornungur steinnmdashthornungir steinar 10 sterk konamdashsterkar konur

Exercise 13 1 Eigum vieth aeth fara og skoetha Althorningishuacutesieth (Nei) Foumlrum frekar upp Laugarveg og skoethum buacuteethirnar 2 THORNaeth er laugardagur iacute dag og buacuteethirnar opna ekki fyrr en klukkan tiacuteu foumlrum thornangaeth eftir haacutedegi 3 Vieth skulum fara (Foumlrum) iacute thornjoacuteethminjasafnieth THORNaeth er langt heacuteethan eigum vieth ekki frekar aeth skoetha Raacuteethhuacutesieth og faacute okkur kaffi thornar 4 Hvar er Raacuteethhuacutesieth (THORNaeth er) THORNarna niethur fraacute 5 Goacuteeth hugmynd goumlngum niethur eftir og gerum thornaeth

Lesson 4

Iacute boacutekabuacuteeth She plans to drive along the ringroad around Iceland itrsquos not detailed enough she needs to buy stamps at the post office

Exercise 1 hluti-hluta-hluta-hluta hlutar-hluta-hlutum-hluta skeieth-skeieth-skeieth-skeiethar skeiethar-skeiethar-skeiethum-skeietha kort-kort-kortikorts kort-kort-kortum-korta

Exercise 2 faacute acc poacutestkort-0 uacutet aacute acc land-0 vantar acc leiethsoumlguhandboacutek-0 meeth dat vegakort-i heimsaeligkja acc landshlut-a um acc landshlut-a leigja acc biacutel-0 keyra acc hringveg-0-inn syacutenir dat mann-i acc aethalveg-i-na merkisstaeth-i fraacute dat einkenn-um iacute dat landslag-i-nu yfir acc haacutelendi-eth Sprengisandsleieth-ina thornarftu acc leiethsoumlgn-0 skoetha acc boacutek-ina aacute dat poacutesthuacutes-i-nu

Exercise 3 1 hoacuteteli Iacuteslandi Iacutetaliacuteu iacutetoumllskuna aethalgoumltunni 2 myndirnar merkisstaethina Hallgriacutemskirkju 3 glugganum 4 fisk 5 konunni

Exercise 4 1 eacuteg aeligtla aeth ganga niethur iacute baelig 2 eacuteg aeligtla aacute Austurvoumlllinn 3 eacuteg aeligtla aeth skoetha Althorningishuacutesieth og Doacutemkirkjuna 4 eacuteg aeligtla iacute boacutekabuacuteeth 5 eacuteg aeligtla aeth kaupa poacutestkort 6 eacuteg aeligtla aacute kaffihuacutes 7 eacuteg aeligtla aeth skrifa poacutestkortin 8 eacuteg aeligtla aeth ganga upp Laugaveginn 9 eacuteg aeligtla aeth skoetha buacuteethirnar 10 eacuteg aeligtla aeth heimsaeligkja forsetann aacute Bessastoumlethum (least likely) 11 eacuteg aeligtla aethhellip

Exercise 5 Aacute morgun aeligtla eacuteg aethhellip Exercise 6 1 Goacuteethan daginn 2 Er til kaffi heacuterFaeligst kaffi heacuter 3 Er haeliggt aeth faacute

hamborgara 4 THORNaacute aeligtlum vieth aeth faacute thornrjaacuter koacutek oghellipaacutettu til aacutevaxtasafaErtu meeth aacutevaxtasafa 5hellipog eitt Troacutepiacutekana og svo thornrjaacuter pylsur og einn iacutes 6 Jaacute Hvaeth verethur thornetta mikieth 7 Heacuterna eru 2000 8 Takk

Aacute poacutesthuacutesinu until after the weekend no with friends


Exercise 7 1 Listasafn Iacuteslands er aacute Friacutekirkjuvegi 2 Raacuteethhuacutesieth er aacute Tjarnargoumltu 3 Hallgriacutemskirkja er aacute Skoacutelavoumlrethustiacuteg 4 Hljoacutemskaacutelinn er aacute Soacuteleyjargoumltu (aacute Skothuacutesvegi) 5 Maethur tekur ruacutetu aacute Vatnsmyacuterarvegi 6 Margir straeligtisvagnar stoppa aacute Laeligkjartorgi 7 Kristiacuten byacuter aacute Hringbraut 8 Einar aacute heima iacute Espimel 9 Eacuteg byacuteaacute heima iacuteaacutehellip

Lesson 5

Goumlngufatnaethur the Vatnajoumlkull tomorrow woollen underwear and a woollen sweater Exercise 1 1 Konan er iacute uacutelpu peysu buxum og kuldaskoacutem Huacuten er meeth huacutefu poka og

trefil 2 Konan er iacute jakka og pilsi (iacute dragt) bluacutessu sokkabuxum og skoacutem Huacuten er meeth uacuter haacutelsfesti toumlsku og siacutema 3 Maethurinn er iacute jakkafoumltum skyrtu vesti (meeth hnoumlppumtoumllum) og spariskoacutem Hann er meeth hring og bindi

Exercise 2 1 Konan fer iacute uacutelpuna peysuna buxurnar og kuldaskoacutena Huacuten setur aacute sig huacutefuna og trefilinn 2 Konan fer iacute jakkann og pilsieth (iacute dragtina) bluacutessuna sokkabuxurnar og skoacutena Huacuten setur aacute sig uacuterieth og haacutelsfestieth 3 Maethurinn fer iacute jakkafoumltin skyrtuna vestieth og spariskoacutena Hann setur aacute sig hringinn og bindieth

Exercise 3 There are no set answers to this exercise as it depends on you Exercise 4 1 svartur jakkimdashsvartan jakkamdashsvoumlrtum jakkamdashsvarts jakkasvartir

jakkarmdashsvarta jakkamdashsvoumlrtum joumlkkummdashsvartra jakka 2 skrautlegt pilsmdashskrautlegt pilsmdashskrautlegu pilsimdashskrautlegs pilssskrautleg pilsmdashskrautleg pilsmdashskrautlegum pilsummdashskrautlegra pilsa 3 fiacutenn kjoacutellmdashfiacutenan kjoacutelmdashfiacutenum kjoacutelmdashfiacutens kjoacutelsfiacutenir kjoacutelarmdashfiacutena kjoacutelamdashfiacutenum kjoacutelummdashfiacutenna kjoacutela 4 thornykk peysamdashthornykka peysumdashthornykkri peysumdashthornykkrar peysuthornykkar peysurmdashthornykkar peysurmdashthornykkum peysummdashthornykkra peysa 5 ljoacutett bindimdashljoacutett bindimdashljoacutetu bindimdashljoacutets bindisljoacutet bindimdashljoacutet bindimdashljoacutetum bindummdashljoacutetra binda 6 nyacute dragtmdashnyacuteja dragtmdashnyacuterri dragtmdashnyacuterrar dragtarnyacutejar dragtirmdashnyacutejar dragtirmdashnyacutejum droumlgtummdashnyacuterra dragta

Exercise 5 1 blaacutean 2 nyacuteja graacutea 3 hviacutetri svoumlrtum nyacutejum 4 gulri bruacutenu gulum graelignum 5 rauetha hlyacuteja langan stoacutera

Exercise 6 Some sample answers 1 eacuteg aeligtla aeth vera iacute hlyacutejum foumltum iacute thornykkri peysu buxum kuldaskoacutem ullarsokkum og uacutelpu Eacuteg aeligtla aeth vera meeth trefil vettlinga og huacutefu 2 eacuteg aeligtla aeth vera iacute skyrtu leacutettum buxum og leacutettum jakka boacutemullarsokkum og skoacutem 3 eacuteg aeligtla aeth vera leacutett-klaeligddur iacute bol og stuttbuxum eetha pilsi og iacute klossum eetha strigaskoacutem Eacuteg aeligtla aeth vera meeth soacutelgleraugu og hatt 4 eacuteg aeligtla aeth vera iacute leacutettri peysu og buxum sokkum stiacutegveacutelum og regnkaacutepu (regngoumlllum) meeth hettu

Exercise 7 1 joumlklar 2 trefla 3 gamlar 4 fallegan 5 opin 6 lykilinn lyklana 7 litlir saeligtir 8 stoacutera vindla

Draumur um bruacuteethkaup iacute hviacutetum kjoacutel from a small beach town to find her love and get married in white

Exercise 8 1 eitt tvouml thornrjuacute fjoumlgur hjoacutel 2 einni tveimur thornremur fjoacuterum peysum 3 einn tvo thornrjaacute fjoacutera jakka 4 eina tvaeligr thornrjaacuter fjoacuterar myndir 5 ein tvaeligr thornrjaacuter fjoacuterar kroacutenur 6 eins tveggja thornriggja fjoumlgurra landa

Exercise 9 1ndash0 2ndash1 1ndash0 12ndash0 Exercise 10 1 Hvar er poacutesthuacutesieth 2 Hvaeth kostar thornetta 3 Hvaeth segirethu 4 Hvenaeligr

ferethu 5 Hver er thornetta 6 Hvert ertu aeth fara 7 Hverju klaeligethist huacuten 8 Hvers saknar hann Exercise 11 goacuteethuraacutegaeligtur-vondurslaeligmur hlyacutermdashsvalur svarturmdashhviacutetur

siacuteethurlangurmdashstuttur heiturmdashkaldur nyacutermdashgamall liacutetillmdashstoacutermikill foumllurmdashskaeligr ljoacutesmdash


doumlkkur leacutetturmdashthornungur skemmtilegurmdashleiethinlegur fallegurmdashljoacutetur druslulegurmdashsnyrtilegur erfiethurmdashauethveldur

Exercise 12 Some possibilities are haacuter siacutett doumlkkt graacutett stutt munnur stoacuter thornunnur rauethur fallegur veethur svalt hlyacutett leiethinlegt vont biacuteomynd falleg slaeligm loumlng goumlmul

Exercise 13 1 ullarsokkar 2 boacutemullarsokkar boacutemullarjakki boacutemullar-bolur 3 leethurskoacuter leethurbuxur leethurstiacutegveacutel 4 gallabuxur gallajakki 5 guacutemmiacuteskoacuter guacutemmiacutestiacutegveacutel 6 lopasokkar 7 plastpoki 8 treacuteskoacuter 9 gullhringur 1 soacutelgleraugu 2 sparikjoacutell 3 bruacuteetharkjoacutell 4 vasauacuter 5 haacuterspenna haacuterband 6 hettupeysa 7 teygjuefni 8 vetrarfrakki

Exercise 14 on sale are trainers and fleece jumpers expected before the weekend are white black and blue jumpers no sleeping bags

Skuggi skammdegisins January only at Christmas autumn

Lesson 6

Aeth panta flug tomorrow morning Wednesday one day 630 am Exercise 1 tuttugu og fimm miacutenuacutetur yfir sex haacutelf sjouml (aacutetjaacuten thornrjaacutetiacuteu) tiacuteu miacutenuacutetur yfir

thornrjuacute (fimmtaacuten tiacuteu) korter iacute fimm fimm miacutenuacutetur iacute eitt (toacutelf fimmtiacuteu og fimm) tuttugu og fimm miacutenuacutetur iacute toacutelf (tuttugu og thornrjuacute thornrjaacutetiacuteu og fimm) tuttugu miacutenuacutetur yfir fimm tuttugu miacutenuacutetur iacute niacuteu (tuttugu fjoumlrutiacuteu) tiacuteu miacutenuacutetur iacute ellefu niacuteu (tuttugu og eitt) korter yfir ellefu

Exercise 2 1105 1145 330 903 735 1230 315 550 1850 1440 Exercise 3 1 THORNaeth er flogieth kl haacutelf niacuteu kl toacutelf og kl haacutelf sjouml (aacutetjaacuten thornrjaacutetiacuteu) 2 Jaacute thornaeth er

haeliggt aeth fljuacutega kl korter iacute sjouml aacute laugardagsmorgnum 3 THORNaeth er flogieth thornrisvar aacute viku til Faeligreyja 4 Kvoumlldruacutetanhuacuten fer tuttugu of fimm miacutenuacutetur yfir niacuteu 5 THORNuacute kemur til Borgarness kl korter iacute tiacuteu

Exercise 4 1 Eacuteg er naeligstur goacuteethan daginn 2 Eacuteg aeligtla aeth ferethast til Hafnar iacute Hornafirethi meeth ruacutetu ef haeliggt er 3 Klukkan hvaeth 4 Klukkan hvaeth kemur ruacutetan til Hafnar 5 Hvaeth kostar miethinn 6 Kemur ruacutetan vieth iacute Joumlkulsaacuterloacuteni 7 Nuacute er thornaethNuacutejaacute Er haeliggt aeth kaupa mietha til Hafnar nuacutena 8 Nei aethra leieth eacuteg aeligtla aeth fljuacutega til baka 9 Iacute fyrramaacutelieth 10 Gjoumlrethu svo vel thornakka thorneacuter kaeligrlega fyrir

Exercise 5 1 Iacute morgun aeligtla eacuteg aeth ganga um baeliginn 2 Eftir thornaeth aeligtla eacuteg aeth faacute kaffi 3 Fyrir haacutedegi aeligtla eacuteg aeth faacute upplyacutesingar um skoethunarferethir aacute Vatnajoumlkul og aeth Joumlkulsaacuterloacuteni 4 Iacute haacutedeginu aeligtla eacuteg aeth boretha haacutedegismat 5 Eftir haacutedegi aeligtla eacuteg aeth skoetha safnieth 6 Iacute fyrramaacutelieth aeligtla eacuteg iacute skoethunarfereth 7 Annaeth kvoumlld aeligtla eacuteg aeth taka ruacutetu til Egilsstaetha 8hellip

Exercise 6 1 at 1821 2 at 1829 3 at 1034 4 3400 kr 5 20 kr 6 200 kr Exercise 7 1 Vagn nuacutemer sexhann fer aeth Breiethholtskjoumlri og aeth (Eiethisgranda vieth)

Oumlldugranda 2 Jaacute hann stoppar aacute Laugavegi 3 Farieth kostar 120 kr 4 THORNaacute bieth eacuteg vagnstjoacuterann um skiptimietha 5 lsquo(Eacuteg aeligtla aeth faacute) skiptimietha takkrsquo 6 7 and 8 These depend of course on you

Exercise 8 1 henni 2 huacuten er sein 3 thornaeligr skoetha thornaacute 4 thornaeth fer til hennar 5 thorneir taka hana Exercise 9 THORNaeligr huacuten huacuten thornau hann hann thornaeligr thornau huacuten hann thorneir thornau huacuten Uacutetvarp og sjoacutenvarp aacute Iacuteslandi the news foreign programmes not any longer Exercise 10 1 comedy film 2 cartoon (animated film) 3 documentary 4 western 5

thriller action film 6 detective lsquowhodunnitrsquo 7 epic 8 horror film Exercise 11 1 aethalhlutverk 2 thornyacuteethandi og thornulur 3 soumlngleikur 4 tilnefnd til

Oacuteskarsverethlauna 5 bein uacutetsending 6 barna- og unglingathornaacutettur


Exercise 12 1 Dagskraacutein byrjar kl 1130 2 Jaacute bresk sakamaacutelamynd er syacutend iacute Sjoacutenvarpinu og myndin lsquoGeimveranrsquo er synd aacute Stoumleth 2 3 Fyrstu freacutettir kvoumlldsins byrja kl sjouml 4 Dagskraacutein aacute Stoumleth 2 er buacutein kl korter iacute eitt 5 Heimildarmyndin kemur fraacute Frakklandi 6 Fimm erlendir thornaeligttir eru syacutendir iacute sjoacutenvarpinu 7hellip

Lesson 7

Dagur iacute liacutefi iacuteslenskrar fjoumllskyldu one five Joacuten at home Sigriacuteethur at a bank Joacuten and Sigriacuteethur Joacuten

Exercise 1 1 verethur stendur 2 sker 3 fereth flyacuteg 4 byacuter 5 faelig 6 sofa sefur 7 byacuteethur 8 gangieth goumlngum geng ek

Exercise 2 2 hann fer aacute faeligtur kl korter yfir sjouml 3 hann borethar morgunmat og drekkur kaffi og hann klaeligethir sig 4 hann tekur straeligtoacute iacute vinnu 5 hann vinnur aacute skrifstofu 6 hann gengur iacute buacuteeth og faeligr seacuter samloku kl toacutelf 7 hann fer aacute fund eftir haacutedegi og seacuter um matarinnkaup 8 hann kemur heim kl sjouml 9 hann eldar matinn og horfir aacute freacutettir 10 hann tekur til og les yfir skjoumll 11 hann haacutettar kl haacutelf toacutelf 12 hann sefur eins og steinn alla noacutettinahellip

Exercise 3 2 huacuten er 3 huacuten rekur 4 huacuten seacuter 5 huacuten byacuter 6 huacuten aacute 7 huacuten nyacutetur 8 huacuten faeligr 9 huacuten vaknar 10 huacuten vinnur 11 fer huacuten 12 kemur huacuten

Samtal vieth nyacutebuacutea in Iacutesafjoumlrethur nature the air doing different things in one place partying cold and darkness of winter expense well

Exercise 4 1 huacutesieth 2 uacutetlanda 3 skoacutelanum 4 mig 5 huacutesanna 6 goacutelfinu 7 borethinu 8 veginum 9 afa og oumlmmu 10 hjaacutelpina 11 honum 12 veethurs

Exercise 5 1 eftiriacute 2 hjaacutefyrirnaacutelaeliggt 3 vieth aacute 4 iacute 5 meeth til 6 uacuter iacute 7 iacute 8 uacuter iacute af uacuter aacute iacute iacute uacuter iacute iacute meeth

Exercise 6 1 false 2 true 3 true 4 false 5 false 6 true 7 false 8 true 9 true 10 false

Lesson 8

Iacute matarbuacuteeth THORNoacuter finds it too much of a bother a pasta dish tomato sauce skyr bread and milk

Exercise 1 There are no set answers to this exercise Exercise 2 1 thornig 2 okkur 3 barninu 4 Joacuteniacutenu 5 honum 6 hana 7 ykkur 8 manninum 9

konunni 10 thornaacute Exercise 3 1 meacuter finnstthornykir mjoacutelk ofsalega goacuteeth 2 meacuter finnastthornykja epli mjoumlg goacuteeth 3

meacuter finnastthornykja franskar kartoumlflur oacuteaeligtar 4 meacuter finnstthornykir appelsiacutenusafi ofsalega vondur 5 meacuter finnstthornykir reyktur lax aeligethislega goacuteethur 6 meacuter finnastthornykja pylsur hryllilega vondar 7 meacuter finnstthornykir ofnbakaethur kjuacuteklingur ljuacuteffengur 8 meacuter finnstthornykir svart kaffi mjoumlg vont

Exercise 4A 1mdashii 2mdashiv 3mdashi 4mdashv 5mdashiii B 1mdashiii 2mdashv 3mdashi 4mdashii iv Adjusted menu pasta without the nuts pancakes without the cream

Aacute veitingarstaeth the food is exceptional at the Hoacutetel a bottle of red wine a little overcooked coffee and cognac

Exercise 5 sweet tender juicy soft tastelessbland soggy spoiledoff undercookedraw bad-tasting lean


Exercise 6 1 stoacuter eetha liacutetill rauethur safariacutekur mjuacutekur svoliacutetieth saeligtur hellip2 stoacuter gul suacuter safariacutek houmlrethhellip3 stoacuter hviacutet saeligt mjuacutek feit bragethgoacuteeth hellip4 liacutetil bruacuten saeligt thornurr seighellip5 bruacutent eetha svart beiskt (saeligtt meeth sykri uacutet iacute)hellip6 hviacutetur saeligtur mjuacutekur bragethgoacuteethur 7 bruacutent eetha svart beiskt hart seigt soethiethhellip8 liacutetil bleik meyr safariacutek soethinhellip

Exercise 7 1 toacutematur 2 hvalkjoumlt 3 gulroacutet 4 lax Exercise 8 eina samloku tvo (skammta) af froumlnskum thornrjaacute ostborgara eina piacutetu fjoacuterar

koacutek tvo kaffi og thornrjuacute mjoacutelk(-urgloumls) Exercise 9 1 Maacute eacuteg faacute matseethil 2 Siacuteethdegisseethil takk 3 Einn kaffi og

gulroacutetakoumlkustykki 4 Kakoacute og voumlfflur 5 Eina graelignmetissamloku og eina koacutek 6 Tvoumlfaldan espresso og stoacutert suacutekkulaethikoumlkustykki

Exercise 10 1 einhver enginn 2 eitthvaeth 3 einskis 4 engan 5 einhverja 6 einhverjum 7 eitthvert engin 8 engan

Lesson 9

Fjoumllskyldan miacuten she is the second oldest two Joacuten and Lilja her mother Hjaacutelmar and Joacuten Exercise 1 1 thornaeth heitir Ragnar Hjaacutelmarsson og Eyruacuten Joacutensdoacutettir 2 hann heitir Hjaacutelmar

Sveinsson 3 thornau heita Ragnar Hjaacutelmarsson og Eyruacuten Joacutensdoacutettir 4 huacuten heitir Hulda Joacutensdoacutettir 5 foumlethursystir (fraelignka)

Exercise 2 1 broacuteethir 2 systir 3 foumlethurbroacuteethir (fraeligndi) 4 doacutettir 5 maacutegkona 6 maacutegur 7 maeligethgin 8 feethgar

Exercise 3 There is of course no set answer to this exercise Exercise 4 1 braeligethur systur 2 systur 3 maeligethurnar 4 feethranna 5 syni 6 daeligtur Question daeligtur is a noun which indicates exclusively a family relation Exercise 5 1 aacute 2 eiga 3 hefur 4 er meeth aacute 5 er meeth 6 hefur Exercise 6 1 thornetta er uacutetvarpieth hennar 2 thornetta er skaacutepurinn okkar 3 thornetta eru boumlrnin

thorneirra 4 thornetta eru foumltin ykkar 5 thornetta eru peningarnir miacutenir Exercise 7 1 jaacute thornetta er peysa straacuteksins 2 jaacute thornetta er penni kennarans 3 jaacute thornetta er

bolti barnanna 4 jaacute thornetta er huacutes foacutelksins 5 jaacute thornetta eru myndir oumlmmu Bruacuteethkaup Dagnyacutersquos brother yes Dagnyacutersquos fatherrsquos relatives to a meeting Exercise 8 1 jaacute thornetta er taskan miacuten 2 nei thornetta er biacutell moumlmmu minnar thornetta er biacutellinn

hennar moumlmmu 3 nei thornetta er boacutek broacuteethur miacutens thornetta er boacutekin hans broacuteethur miacutens 4 nei thornetta er uacutelpa fraelignku minnar thornetta er uacutelpan hennar fraelignku minnar 5 jaacute thornetta eru gleraugun miacuten 6 nei thornetta eru daeligtur systur minnar thornetta eru daeligtur () hennar systur minnar

Exercise 9 1 Saeligll (og blessaethur) 2 Allt gott takk en hjaacute thorneacuter 3 thornetta er mamma miacuten 4 Huacuten er aeth heimsaeligkja mig heacuter 5 Huacuten er buacutein aeth vera heacuter iacute einn dag 6 En vieth verethum viacutest aeth halda aacutefram 7 Vieth aeligtlum aeth hitta vinkonu miacutena hana Brynju niethri iacute baelig 8 og aacute eftir aeligtlum vieth (aeth fara) iacute skoethunarfereth inn iacute Aacutesbirgi (vieth aeligtlum iacute skoethunarfereth inn iacute Aacutesbirgi aacute eftir) 9 THORNakka thorneacuter fyrir Magnuacutes 10 Vertu blessaethur (bless bless)

Lesson 10

Er Hrafn Joumlkulsson vieth on Wednesday afternoon meet for dinner at Hoacutetel Oacuteethinsveacute Exercise 1 sautjaacutendi juacuteniacute fyrsti maiacute tuttugasti og fimmti desember tuttugasti og

niacuteundi februacutear annar aacuteguacutest


Exercise 2 1 siacuteethustu 2 nyacuteja 3 naeligsta 4 stoacutera 5 stoacutera 6 bandariacuteska Exercise 3 1 Eacuteg kem (aacute) maacutenudaginn thornriethja september 2 Eacuteg fer heim iacute naeligstu viku 3 aacute

foumlstudaginn 4 Eacuteg aeligtla aeth heimsaeligkja foreldra miacutena aacute sunnudaginn 5 Hann aacute afmaeligli annan apriacutel 6 Eacuteg aeligtla aeth hitta vini miacutena aacute morgun(daginn) um aacutettaleytieth

Aeth panta tiacutema the dentist called Sigurjoacuten hersquos working Breacutef from the Icelandic Embassy a catalogue and information about orders and

payment Exercise 4 1 (1 11 00) 2 (1 11 00) 3 (0112) 4 (2 12 30) 5 (04) 6 (03) Komdu meeth meacuter iacute biacuteoacute Therersquos a brilliant Spanish film showing he has to finish an

assignment to make sure they get tickets Exercise 5 1 braeligddu braeligethieth 2 laacutettu laacutetieth 3 saxaethu saxieth 4 settu setjieth 5 hitaethu hitieth

6 buacuteethu buacuteieth 7 skerethu skerieth 8 sjoacuteddu sjoacuteethieth 9 hraeligrethu hraeligrieth 10 kryddaethu kryddieth 11 blandaethu blandieth 12 berethu berieth

Exercise 6 1 skulieth 2 skal 3 munt 4 skalt 5 mun

Lesson 11

Aeth panta herbergi double rooms with a bath only one an extra bed in the room Exercise 1 1 thornriggja haeligetha 2 tveggja metra 3 fjoumlgurra herbergja () 4 tuttugu miacutenuacutetna 5

(eins) dags 6 thornaeth er sextiacuteu og sjouml aacutera gamalt 7 huacuten er um thornaeth bil sjouml hundrueth aacutera goumlmul 8hellip

Aacute ferethaskrifstofu a weekend Friday no not at the special fare Exercise 2 a Snartartunga Brekkulaeligkur b Baeligr Melstaethur Barkarstaethir c Staetharskaacuteli

Brekkulaeligkur d Melstaethur e Breiethaviacutek Alviethra Snartartunga Melstaethur Barkarstaethir 1 AacutettuEigieth thornieth herbergi laust iacute juacuteniacute 2 Er haeliggt aeth panta fjoumlgurra daga dvoumll (gistingu) fyrir einner haeliggt aeth panta einbyli iacute fjoacuterar naeligtur 3 Mig langar aeth faacute uppbuacuteieth ruacutem ef haeliggt er 4 Er til eldunaraethstaetha 5 Hvaeth kostar gistingin 6 Eacuteg aeligtla aeth panta herbergieth nuacutena

Exercise 3 1 ein tvenn thornrenn fern gleraugu 2 einir tvennir thornrennir fernir vettlingar 3 ein tvenn thornrenn fern skaeligri 4 eitt tvouml thornrjuacute fjoumlgur armbandsuacuter 5 einar tvennar thornrennar fernar buxur 6 einar tvennar thornrennar fernar dyr

Exercise 4 1 jaacute eacuteg kaupi marga aacutevexti 2 jaacute eacuteg boretha marga reacutetti 3 jaacute eacuteg seacute marga iacutesbirni 4 jaacute eacuteg thornekki marga nemendur 5 jaacute eacuteg kem vieth aacute moumlrgum flugvoumlllum 6 jaacute eacuteg skoetha margar syacuteningar 7 jaacute eacuteg heyri margar flugveacutelar 8 jaacute eacuteg les margar baeligkur 9 jaacute eacuteg er meeth margar skemmdar tennur 10 jaacute eacuteg fer iacute margar sundlaugar

Exercise 5 1 fraacute Akureyri til Viacutekur eru fimm hundrueth sextiacuteu og einn kiacuteloacutemetri 2 fraacute Borgarnesi til Iacutesafjarethar eru thornrjuacute hundrueth aacutettatiacuteu og fjoacuterir kiacuteloacutemetrar 3 fraacute Grindaviacutek til Reykjaviacutekur eru fimmtiacuteu og tveir kiacuteloacutemetrar 4 fraacute Selfossi til THORNingvalla eru fjoumlrutiacuteu og fjoacuterir kiacuteloacutemetrar 5 fraacute Kirkjubaeligjarklaustri til Egilsstaetha eru fjoumlgur hundrueth og fjoumlrutiacuteu kiacuteloacutemetrar 6 fraacute Oacutelafsfirethi til Akureyrar eru sextiacuteu og einn kiacuteloacutemetri 7 fraacute THORNingvoumlllum til Borgarness eru niacuteutiacuteu og fimm kiacuteloacutemetrar

Hringfereth um Graelignland aacuterieth 2000 two weeks the millennium of Inuit settlement in Greenland one million kroacutenur For Him Magazine

Lesson 12


Iacutethornroacutettaiethkun She has little time and takes her work home with her he wants to get into shape and lose weight exercising (working out)

Exercise 1 3ndash5ndash6ndash7ndash2ndash8ndash4ndash1 Eacuteg vakna klhellip Eacuteg fer aacute faeligtur klhellip Eacuteg baetha mig og klaeligethi mig og svohellip

Exercise 2 vaknaethumdashfarethu aacute faeligturmdashthornvoethu thorneacutermdashklaeligddu thornigmdashgreiddu thorneacutermdashborethaethu morgunmatinnmdashburstaethu tennurnarmdashfarethu iacute skoacutelamdashgaeligttu thorniacuten aacute biacutelunum

Exercise 3 1 gerast 2 leiethist 3 byacutest 4 breytast 5 naacutelgast 6 finnst venjast 7 syacutenist 8 thornekkjast kyssast hittast

Aacutehugamaacutel the piano classical jazz and blues yes therersquos a local theatre company Exercise 4 you have a choice out of a range of adverbs the following is a sample

answer oacutetruacutelega mjoumlg alveg ofsalega voethalega aeligethislega oacuteskaplega afar alveg (the only option here) aacutekaflega ofsalega afar mjoumlg hryllilega hraeligethilega

Exercise 5 1 wrong 2 wrong 3 right 4 wrong 5 right 6 wrong 7 right 8 wrong Exercise 6 Iacutesland er stoacutert Frakkland er staeligrra en Kanada er alstaeligrst koumlttur er liacutetill

fugl er minni en muacutes er langminnst Mick Jagger er gamall Boris Jeltsin er eldri en Joacuten Paacutell II er langelstur Hallgriacutemskirkja er haacute Eiffelturninn er haeligrri en Frelsisstyttan er alhaeligst tiacuteu kiacuteloacute eru thornung fimmtiacuteu kiacutelo eru thornyngri en hundraeth kiacuteloacute eru langthornyngst

Laacutettu peacuter liacuteetha vel It affects how we feel mentally and physically by movingexercising driving walking and swimming

Lesson 13

Iacutesland no in Bessastaethir to heat up houses and greenhouses not all that cold but unsettled the first Icelandic parliament was founded and held there

Exercise 1 byggt (past nsgnom land) verieth (past) vaxandi (present adj fjoumlldi) sjoacuteethandi (present adv kemur upp) kenndir (past mplnom hverir) notaeth (past nsgnom vatnieth) hitueth (past nplnom huacutes) notueth (past fsgnom gufan) virkjaethar (past fplnom aacuter) flogieth (past) stofnaeth (past nsgnom Althorningi) fundaeth (past) friethaethir and gerethir (past mplnom vellir)

Exercise 2 1 THORNaeth er talaeth mikieth iacute siacutemannmikieth er talaeth iacute siacutemann 2 THORNaeth er vakaeth alla noacutettinaalla noacutettina er vakaeth 3 THORNaeth er oft gist aacute hoacutetelioft er gist aacute hoacuteteli 4 THORNaeth er hlegieth aeth thornessuaeth thornessu er hlegieth 5 THORNaeth er aldrei hlustaeth aacute freacutettirnaraldrei er hlustaeth aacute freacutettirnar 6 THORNaeth er mikieth dansaeth iacute veislunnimikieth er dansaeth iacute veislunni

Uacutetivist several days mediumaverage no Exercise 3 vatnsbruacutesi goumlnguskoacuter ullarpeysa vasahniacutefur kloacutesettpappiacuter vettlingar og

huacutefa diskur sundfoumlt Exercise 4 1 Goacuteethan daginn Eacuteg aeligtla aeth faraferethast til Iacuteslands iacute aacuteguacutest og mig langar aeth

faacute upplyacutesingar um ferethir inn iacute oacutebyggethir 2 Goumlngufereth 3 Nokkra daga 4 Eacuteg er alveg tilbuacutein(n)til iacute aeth tjalda 5 Eacuteg er miethlungsgoumlngumaethur 6 Fiacutent thornakka thorneacuter (kaeligrlega) fyrir

Exercise 5 THORNaeth er flogieth fraacute Reykjaviacutek til Iacutesafjarethar og siglt thornaethan (paethan er siglt) iacute Hestfjoumlreth Svo er gengieth fraacute Hesteyri yfir iacute Aethalviacutek og endaeth iacute Hornviacutek og er gist thornar iacute skaacutela Naeligsta daginn er Fagranesieth tekieth til baka til Iacutesafjarethar

Exercise 6 1 no 2 no 3 yes 4 yes 5 no Landshlutar its glacier connections are difficult and soil is sparse itrsquos one of few

towns not on the coast it has most of the lowland itrsquos very dangerous to ships


Exercise 7 SW and W 9ndash15 (day) 6 to 8 (night) West Fjords and NE 3ndash6 (night) 5ndash9 (day) E and East Fjords 3ndash9 SE 7ndash13 interior 0ndash6 1 North-east and interior 2 interior 3 Western Iceland 4 North-easterly 5 sweater and raincoat 6 coldest north-eastern peninsulas warmest SW and W

Exercise 8 1 NE Iceland north of Myacutevatn and NE of Akureyri 2 on northern coast W of Huacutesaviacutek between Eyjafjord and Skagafjord 3 on Skagafjord in NW 4 in West Fjords at Iacutesafjarethardjuacutep north of Iacutesafjoumlrethur 5 on northern side of Snaeligfellsnes peninsula from where one can sail to Flatey 6 on southern Reykjanes peninsula from where one can sail to the Westmen Islands 7 on the south coast not far from Myacuterdals glacier and Myacuterdal sands 8 in East Fjords from where one can sail to Papey

Exercise 9 1 hressist 2 bilast eldast 3 styttast 4 geymist skemmist

Lesson 14

Saacutelin hans Joacutens miacutens he has been a bad man she reminds them of their past sins she throws in a bag with the soul in it

Exercise 1 bjuggu (S-bjoacute) var (S-voru) liacutekaethi (W-liacutekuethu) aacutemaeligltu (Waacutemaeliglti) elskaethi (W-elskuethu) vareth (S-urethu) vakti (W-voumlktu) batnaethi (W-boumltnuethu) foacuter (S-foacuteru) toacutek (S-toacuteku) heacutelt (S-heacuteldu) gaf (S-gaacutefu) batt (S-bundu) kom (S-komu) drap (S-draacutepu) spurethi (W-spurethu) afneitaethi (W-afneituethu) laeligsti (W-laeligstu) aacutettir (irr aacutettu) vildi (W-vildu) barethi (Wboumlrethu) aeligtlaethi (W-aeligtluethu) svaraethi (W-svoumlruethu) truacuteethi (W-truacuteethu) lokaethi (W-lokuethu) kastaethi (W-koumlstuethu) leacutetti (W-leacutettu)

Exercise 2 1 borethaethiirir-borethuethumuethu 2 gleymdiiri-gleymdum uethu 3 gerethiiri-gerethumuethu 4 valdiiri-voumlldumuethu 5 naut-naust-nautnutum-nutueth-nutu 6 vareth-varethst-vareth-urethum-urethud-urethu 7 toacutek-toacutekst-toacutek-toacutekum-toacutekueth-toacuteku 8 leacutek-leacutekst-leacutek-leacutekum-leacutekueth-leacuteku 9 spurethiir i-spurethumuethu 10 greacutet-greacutest-greacutet-greacutetum-greacutetueth-greacutetu 11 notaethiiri-notuethumuethu 12 saueth-sauethst-saueth-suethum-suethueth-suethu

Exercise 3 1 (var) toacutek 2 (var) 3 gengu 4 byggethi heacutet 5 feacutekk 6 fluttu 7 fann 8 gekk 9 doacute 10 (var) 11 hernaacutemu 12 funduethu 13 vareth 14 (gaus) 15 feacutekk 16 vareth 17 toacuteku

Exercise 4 faeligddist var doacute aacutetti var bjoacute heacutet skrifaethi foacuter var ferethaethist dvaldi toacutek gekk kom kom samdi var vakti gaf vareth var byrjaethi skrifaethi voru samdi feacutekk

Exercise 5 Eacuteg faeligddist aacuterieth 1943 og var skiacutereth Joacuteniacutena Joacutensdoacutettir Eacuteg bjoacute iacute Faacuteskruacuteethsfirethi thornegar eacuteg var liacutetil iacute litlu huacutesi sem heacutet Framnes Eacuteg oacutelst upp og foacuter iacute skoacutela aacute Egilsstoumlethum thornangaeth til eacuteg var sextaacuten aacutera THORNaacute foacuter eacuteg aftur til Faacuteskruacuteethsfjarethar til aeth vinna thornar iacute fiski Eacuteg giftist Einari manninum miacutenum thornegar eacuteg var aacutetjaacuten aacutera Vieth fluttum iacute staeligrra huacutes sem Einar byggethi handa okkur og vieth eignuethumst thornrjuacute boumlrn Eacuteg laeligrethi aldrei aeth keyra biacutel og ferethaethist aldrei en thornegar boumlrnin voru orethin stoacuter skildum vieth Einar og eacuteg flutti til Reykjaviacutekur til aeth stunda naacutem Eacuteg laeligrethi ensku og spaelignsku og foacuter til uacutetlanda iacute fyrsta sinn thornegar eacuteg var thornrjaacutetiacuteu og sex aacutera goumlmul Eacuteg toacutek kennaraproacutef thornegar eacuteg var thornrjaacutetiacuteu og niacuteu og feacutekk vinnu sem tungumaacutelakennari

Exercise 6 1 Oumlrlygur Joacutensson var aeth horfa iacute buacuteetharglugga thornegar hann heyrethi brak THORNegar hann leit um oumlxl var slysieth buacuteieth aeth gerast 2 Mariacutea Joacutehannsdoacutettir var aeth ganga niethur goumltuna thornegar huacuten saacute biacutelinn keyra inn iacute buacuteetharglugga 3 Peacutetur Briem var aeth biacuteetha eftir umferetharljoacutesi thornegar biacutellinn keyrethi framhjaacute Hann var aeth horfa aacute eftir honum thornegar biacutellinn sveigethi til vinstri og skall aacute buacuteethina 4 Fanney Freysdoacutettir var aeth tala vieth kunningja hjaacute


buacuteethinni thornegar huacuten saacute biacutelinn koma aeth seacuter Huacuten var aeth horfa aacute biacutelstjoacuterann thornegar houmlfuethieth datt niethur aacute styacuteieth

Breacutef the house was burgled go to the police station and contact the insurance company Kjartanrsquos party

Exercise 7 Fimmta juacuteliacute toacutek eacuteg (foacuter meeth) ruacutetu til THORNingvalla Eacuteg foacuter iacute skoethunarfereth og gekk um Mjoumlg fallegur staethur Svo foacuter eacuteg aacute toacutenleika um kvoumlldieth Daginn eftir foacuter eacuteg iacute tveggja daga fereth meeth leiethsoumlgn (leiethsoumlgufereth) um soumlgusloacuteethir Njaacutels soumlgu iacute Fljoacutetshliacuteeth Eacuteg saacute syacuteninguna um Njaacutels soumlgu aacute Hvolsvelli THORNaeth var alveg fraacutebaeligrt Aacutettunda juacuteliacute foacuter eacuteg iacute baacutetsfereth til Vietheyjar og skoethaethi kirkjuna og elsta huacutes landsins THORNaeth var fallegt og hlyacutett veethur Eacuteg gekk um eyjuna og saacute marga (margs konar) fugla Daginn eftir foacuter eacuteg iacute sund og verslaethi iacute miethbaelignum Eacuteg keypti margar gjafir og marga minjagripi Aacute eftir borethaethi eacuteg kvoumlldmat meeth Sif og Kjartaniaacute Soacutelon Iacuteslandus (kaffihuacutesi) Tiacuteundi juacuteliacute var siacuteethasti dagur minn aacute Iacuteslandi Eacuteg pakkaethi niethur og borethaethi samloku iacute Norraeligna huacutesinu og saacute iacuteslenska kvikmynd thornar Svo toacutek eacuteg ruacutetuna til Keflaviacutekur og kvaddi Iacutesland

Exercise 8 1 Jaacute eacuteg thornekki Iacutesland mjoumlgfrekar vel svoliacutetiethnei eacuteg thornekki Iacutesland ekki vel 2 Nei eacuteg thornekki ekki Oacutelaf Ragnar Griacutemsson (en eacuteg veit hver hann er) 3 Jaacute eacuteg kann iacuteslensku 4 Jaacute eacuteg kannast vieth Njaacutels soumlgu (nei eacuteg kannast ekki viethhellip) 5 Nei thornaeth er ekki haeliggt af thornviacute aeth thornaeth eru engar lestir aacute Iacuteslandi 6 Ja hann var stofnaethur aacuterieth 1911 (nei thornaeth veit eacuteg ekki) 7 Jaacute Iacutesland er 103000 km2 aeth staeligreth (eacuteg veit thornaeth ekki) 8 Jaacute Fljoacutetshliacuteeth er aacute Suethurlandi 9 Nei enginn veit hver samdi Njaacutels soumlgu

Uacuter Brennu Njaacutels soumlgu he was fatally stabbed by him two to make a new bow string no


Lesson 15

Hvernig hefurethu thornaeth he has a headache a sore throat and congestion no go home and crawl into bed

Exercise 1 1 nei 2 jaacute 3 jaacute 4 jaacute 5 nei 6 nei Exercise 2 Some indications 1 hann var haacutevaxinn og thornybbinn (jafnvel feitur) Hann

var meeth mikieth svart haacuter og var alltaf meeth marga skartgripi svo sem hringa og haacutelsfesti 2 Hann er haacutevaxinn og mjoumlg grannur Hann er meeth blaacute augu og svart sleacutett haacuter og hann er meeth mjoumlg stoacuteran munn 3 Huacuten er groumlnn meeth mikieth siacutett svart krullaeth haacuter og mjoumlg falleg bruacuten augu Huacuten er oft meeth skartgripi og er oftast iacute fallegum siacuteethum kjoacutel 4 Huacuten er laacutegvaxin og thornybbin meeth graacutett liethaeth stutt haacuter og gleraugu Huacuten er alltaf meeth handtoumlsku og oft meeth sjal og huacuten klaeligethist fiacutenum foumltum 5 Hann er haacutevaxinn og mjoumlg sterkur og hann er meeth stoacutert brjoacutest stoacutera handleggi og stoacutera faeligtur Hann er meeth ljoacutesbruacutent stutt haacuter og blaacute augu 6 Huacuten var groumlnn og var meeth mjoumlg ljoacutest stutt liethaeth haacuter blaacute augu og rauethar varir 7 Hann er meeth stutt graacutett haacuter og stutt graacutett skegg Hann er laacutegvaxinn og grannur og hann er oftast meeth hatt og iacute herfoumltum 8hellip

Hjaacute laeligkni no hersquos got pneumonia stay in bed and take his medicine Exercise 3 1 henni er oacuteglatt huacuten kastar upp strax eftir aeth hafa borethaeth og huacuten er meeth

niethurgang THORNaeth getur verieth matareitrun 2 hann datt iacute goumlngufereth og hann finnur til (er meeth verk) iacute oumlkklanum Hann er marinn og boacutelginn og hann er hraeligddur um aeth hann er brotinn 3 huacuten er meeth bakverki og magakrampa Huacuten getur varla gengieth eetha borethaeth 4 honum er ferlega illt iacute houmlfethinu sem gerist sjaldan Hann er slappurmaacutettlaus Hann er buacuteinn aeth maeligla sig en hann er ekki meeth hita

Iacute apoacutetekinu she fell and scraped her knee a disinfectant gauze and plaster shersquos lost her old one facial cream

Exercise 4 1 Jaacute takk Eacuteg er meeth kvef og mig vantar lyf vieth nefstiacuteflu 2 Jaacute eacuteg aeligtla aeth faacute verkjatoumlflur Meacuter er svo ferlega illt iacute houmlfethinu 3 Nei eacuteg aeligtla liacuteka aeth faacute hoacutestasiacuteroacutep og aacutettu til eitthvaeth til aeth draga uacuter saacuterindum iacute haacutelsi 4 Eru thornaeligr mjoumlg dyrar 5 Fiacutent thornaacute aeligtla eacuteg aeth faacute thornaeligr THORNaacute er thornaeth komieth thornakka thorneacuter fyrir

Exercise 5 1 Eacuteg hef aldrei komieth til Iacutetaliacuteu 2 Eacuteg hafethi farieth til laeligknis aacuteethur en eacuteg foacuter iacute apoacutetekieth 3 Hann hefur reykter buacuteinn aeth reykja iacute moumlrg aacuter 4 afi hefur fengieth slag fyrir loumlngu en hann er ekki buacuteinn aeth vera veikur siacuteethan 5 eftir aeth hafa tekieth lyfin leieth meacuter miklu betur 6 eacuteg hafethi ekki komieth til Iacuteslands thornangaeth til eacuteg laeligrethi iacuteslensku 7 thornaeth er langt siacuteethan vieth houmlfum seacuteeth thornig 8 hvaeth ertu buacuteinn aeth vera lengi aacute Iacuteslandi

Exercise 6 1 thornessa hinar 2 thornennan 3 thorneirri 4 thornessum hina 5 thornetta suacute 6 thorneim 7 hinu thornessu 8 hieth

Freacutettagrein 26 the smallness of the market Ingibjoumlrg Paacutelmadoacutettir work at lowering the rate

Exercise 7 1 lyfjafyrirtaeligki 2 naacutegrannaloumlnd 3 heilbrigethisraacuteethherra 4 aethstoetharmaethur 5 Tryggingastofnun 6 Lyfjaverethsnefnd


Lesson 16

Happdraeligtti only the occasional scratch-and-win move into a magnificent house buy and spend until all the money is gone he fears the publicity and spending such a high sum unwisely

Exercise 1 ynnir ynni (past vinna) flytti (past flytja) yrethi (past veretha) fengi (past faacute) faeligri (past fara) lifethi (past lifa) leacuteki (past leika) yrethu (past veretha) vildi (past vilja) myndi (past munu) vaeligri (past vera) eyddi (past eyetha) saeligi (past sjaacute) fengi (past faacute) byethi (past bjoacuteetha) legethi (past leggja) thornyrfti (past thornurfa)

Exercise 2 1 vaeligri 2 sjaacutei 3 greacuteti 4 hafi 5 dyttu 6 komi verethi 7 fari 8 komi Exercise 3 1 hann fengi seacuter dyacuteran biacutel 2 hann heacuteldi aacutefram aeth vinna 3 hann

borgaethigreiddi alla reikningana siacutena 4 hann klaeligddi sigfaeligri iacute fiacutenflott foumlt 5 hann teldi alla peningana siacutena 6 hann drykki kampaviacuten aacute hverjum degi 7 hann segethi engum fraacute thornessu 8 hann gaeligfi konunni sinni stoacutera gjoumlf

Exercise 4 1 houmlfuethborg 2 houmlfn 3 goumlmul 4 iacutebuacutear 5 huacutes 6 sjaacutevaruacutetvegi 7 sveitum 8 ferethamenn 9 sumarsins 10 byggingar 11 soumlgu 12 uacutetivistar

Exercise 5 There are no set answers to this exercise Exercise 6 Eacuteg byacute iacute tveggja herbergja iacutebuacuteeth iacute fjoumllbyacutelishuacutesi iacute miethbaelignum Iacutebuacuteethin er aacute

fyrstu haeligeth og iacute henni eru stofa svefnherbergi eldhuacutes og baethherbergi Kringum huacutesieth er stoacuter og fallegur garethur Iacute stofunni eru soacutefi og kaffiboreth og vieth vegginn eru boacutekaskaacutepar Arinn er aacute moacuteti boacutekaskaacutepunum og aacute aacuterinhillunni eru bloacutemapottar og kerti Vieth gluggann eru fjoacuterir stoacutelar og boreth og vieth hliacuteethina aacute borethinu er samstaeligetha Iacute horninu hjaacute borethinu er kommoacuteetha og aacute henni eru sjoacutenvarpstaeligki og lampi Myndir hanga aacute veggjunum Eldhuacutesieth er staeligrsta herbergi iacute iacutebuacuteethinni THORNaeth er bjart meeth moumlrgum eldhuacutesskapum eldhuacutesborethi og stoacutelum eldaveacutel oumlrbylgjuofni og thornvottaveacutel Meacuter finnst mjoumlg fallegt uacutetsyacutenieth fraacute eldhuacutesinu iacute garethinn Svefnherbergieth er jafnstoacutert stofunni THORNar eru ruacutem og fataskaacutepar Svefnherbergieth thornjoacutenar liacuteka sem skrifstofa og iacute horninu eru skrifboreth toumllva og margar hillur fullar af pappiacutersdoacuteti moumlppum og skjoumllum Baethherbergieth er hviacutett og blaacutett aacute litinn og iacute thornviacute eru baeth sturta vaskur og kloacutesett Auk thorness eru liacutetill skaacutepur handklaeligethi og hreinlaeligtisvoumlrur Eacuteg er aacutenaeliggeth meeth iacutebuacuteethina Meacuter liacuteethur mjoumlg vel heacuter og eacuteg aeligtla ekki aeth flytja heacuteethan

Exercise 7 1 Eacuteg segist aldrei hafa komieth til Iacuteslands aacuteethur 2 Barnieth sagethi aeth seacuter fyndist graelignmeti vont 3 Mamma spyr hvar eacuteg hafi verieth iacute gaeligrkvoumlldi 4 Pabbi spurethi af hverju eacuteg hefethi horft svo einkennilega aacute sig 5 THORNoacuterey spurethi hvort vieth kaeligmum aacute morgun

Exercise 8 Aacuteslaug segist buacutea iacute tveggja herbergja iacutebuacuteeth iacute fjoumllbylishuacutesi iacute miethbaelignum Huacuten segir aeth iacutebuacuteethin seacute aacute fyrstu haeligeth og aeth iacute henni seacuteu stofa svefnherbergi eldhuacutes og baethherbergi og stoacuter og fallegur garethur seacute kringum huacutesieth Svo segir huacuten aeth iacute stofunni seacuteu soacutefi og kaffiboreth og aeth vieth vegginn seacuteu boacutekaskaacutepar Huacuten segir aeth arinn seacute aacute moacuteti boacutekaskaacutepunum og aacute aacuterinhillunni seacuteu bloacutemapottar og kerti Vieth gluggann seacuteu fjoacuterir stoacutelar og boreth segir huacuten vieth hliacuteethina aacute borethinu seacute samstaeligetha og iacute horninu hjaacute borethinu seacute kommoacuteetha og aacute henni seacuteu sjoacuten-varpstaeligki og lampi Huacuten segir aeth myndir hangi aacute veggjunum Svo segir huacuten aeth eldhuacutesieth seacute staeligrsta herbergi iacute iacutebuacuteethinni og aeth thornaeth seacute bjart meeth moumlrgum eldhuacutesskapum eldhuacutesborethi og stoacutelum eldaveacutel oumlrbylgjuofni og thornvottaveacutel Huacuten segir aeth seacuter finnist mjoumlg fallegt uacutetsyacutenieth fraacute eldhuacutesinu iacute garethinn Svo segir huacuten aeth svefnherbergieth seacute jafnstoacutert stofunni og aeth thornar seacuteu ruacutem og fataskaacutepar Huacuten segir aeth svefnherbergieth thornjoacuteni liacuteka sem skrifstofa og aeth iacute horninu seacuteu skrifboreth toumllva og margar


hillur fullar af pappiacutersdoacuteti moumlppum og skjoumllum Baethherbergieth seacute hviacutett og blaacutett aacute litinn og iacute thornviacute seacuteu baeth sturta vaskur og kloacutesett Auk thorness segir huacuten aeth thornaeth seacuteu liacutetill skaacutepur handklaeligethi og hreinlaeligtisvoumlrur Huacuten segist vera aacutenaeliggeth meeth iacutebuacuteethina Huacuten segir aeth seacuter liacuteethi mjoumlg vel thornar og huacuten segist ekki aeligtla aeth flytja thornaethan

Gestir iacute kaffi she has a bad back lump sugar the drain Exercise 10 1 viltu (gjoumlra svo vel aeth)vildir thornuacute reacutetta meacuter mjoacutelkina 2 viltu (gjoumlra svo vel

aeth)vildir thornuacute gefa meacuter eld 3 meacuter thornaeligtti gott konfekt meeth kaffinu 4 maeligtti eacuteg faacute meira kaffi 5 gaeligti eacuteg fengieth vatnsglas 6 aeligtti eacuteg aeth koma meeth thorneacuter 7 vildirethu dansa

Fyrsta thornakiacutebuacuteeth aacute Iacuteslandi opnueth almenningi as of today itrsquos the first penthouse itrsquos being renovated Einar installed and drew much of the furniture


Glosses of reading passages

Lesson 1

Fjoumllskylda fraacute Iacuteslandi a family from Iceland

Einar Gunnarsson is an Icelander His father is called Gunnar and therefore Einar is Gunnarsson (Gunnarrsquos son) Granddadrsquos name is Joacutenas and therefore Gunnar is Joacutenasson In Iceland that is how it is

Einar is a husband That means that he is married His wife is called Birna She is Einarrsquos wife but she is nevertheless not called Gunnarsson because she isnrsquot Gunnarrsquos son She is Oacutelafsdoacutettir because her fatherrsquos name is Oacutelafur Granddad is called Hrafn and therefore Oacutelafur is Hrafnsson

Birna and Einar have a child The child is called THORNoacutera What is the child doing She is playing Where is Einar He is not at home He is working He is a salesman And what is Birna doing She is working at home She is reading a play She is an actress and she is preparing [for] a part

Lesson 5

Aacuterstiethir aacute Iacuteslandi seasons in Iceland

The winter is from January until March It is long and rather cold Often there are intermittent snowstorms snow and frost and often it is very windy The days are short in midwinter

The spring is from April until June Then it starts to become warmer the days become longer and the golden plover comes to the country Nature wakes from its winter sleep and all begins to bloom

The summer is from July until September Then it is bright around the clock and when the sun shines it is often very warm and comfortable up to 20ndash25 degrees There are many outdoor festivals and many go camping But it can also be cool even cold especially in the interior and one can always expect precipitation In August and September people go berry-picking

The autumn is from October until December The autumn colours are beautiful but in the autumn it also starts to get cold and it is often rainy and windy

Draumur um bruacuteethkaup iacute hviacutetum kjoacutel dream about a wedding in a white dress

The Australian comedy film Murielrsquos Wedding which is now being shown in the Haacuteskoacutelabiacuteoacute is about a girl who lives in a small beach town The girl is called Muriel and her greatest wish is to find her love and get married in a white wedding dress Unfortunately it turns out to be difficult for Muriel to have her wish fulfilled because she is timid and unsure of herself

The music of the Swedish band ABBA is important in Murielrsquos life There existence is so bright and carefree and completely different from the one Muriel has to struggle with

Hogan is a great fan of ABBA and spared himself no trouble to get permission of the band members to play the music in the film Murielrsquos Wedding has been well received both here and abroad

Skuggi skammdegisins midwinterrsquos shadow

Hermann Ragnar dance teacher I find the autumn a lovely time Then the schools and the theatres start their activities The autumn colours are so beautiful and the larches in my garden become a beautiful yellowbrown I always look forward to Christmas but when the Christmas lights have been turned off at Epiphany a more difficult time approaches

Soacuteley actress I am rather cheerful by nature but in the autumn I become lazy and depressed Then I look forward most to snuggling down in bed all day I also notice that my children have a harder time waking up in the morning Christmas raises my spirits but at the beginning of February I become lazy again

Niacutena Bjoumlrk I experience depression at the beginning of spring when it starts to brighten again I feel good on the other hand in the twilight by candlelight Therefore autumn is the nicest time of year and September my favourite month

Lesson 6

Uacutetvarp og sjoacutenvarp aacute Iacuteslandi radio and television in Iceland

The Icelandic radio station called the Icelandic National Broadcasting (RUacuteV) since 1934 was founded in the year 1928 Since 1983 RUacuteV runs two channels Channel 1 and Channel 2 Channel 1 runs a varied programme which emphasizes news education music and Icelandic subjects Channel 2 is on the air 24 hours a day and presents mainly popular music and chat shows The main news broadcasts on both channels are the midday news at noon and the evening news at seven and they enjoy the greatest popularity on the radio Initially the RUacuteV had a monopoly but since the radio and television channels were deregulated in 1985 several private stations have been founded Many of them only broadcast in the greater Reykjaviacutek area


The first television broadcasts in Iceland came from the American army base in Keflaviacutek The year 1966 saw the first broadcast in Icelandic when the National Television Station or Sjoacutenvarpieth began its activities Its daily programme was short for a very long time four to five hours per evening and there was no broadcast on Thursdays Nowadays there is apart from Sjoacutenvarpieth Channel 2 a private station which one has to pay for Due to lack of money the majority of the programmes is foreign material mostly from Britain and the United States which is shown with Icelandic subtitles childrenrsquos programmes are dubbed into Icelandic The most important new stations which have broadcast since 1995 are Syacuten Biacuteoacuteraacutesin and Skjaacuter 1 The principal stationsrsquo main programme is the news at seven (lsquoFreacutettirrsquo on Sjoacutenvarpieth and lsquo19gt20rsquo on Channel 2)

Lesson 7

Dagur iacute liacutefi iacuteslenskrar fjoumllskyldu a day in the life of an Icelandic family

Joacuten Greacutetarsson and Sigriacuteethur Oacutelafsdoacutettir live in Koacutepavogur which is right near Reykjaviacutek They live in a large flat in a block and together have a daughter Halla Sigriacuteethur is divorced and also has Aacutesgeir from a previous marriage and Joacuten has Einar from a previous relationship The boys live with them Sigriacuteethur is a branch manager with Iacuteslandsbanki and Joacuten is a carpenter but is presently working as a full-time dad (a lsquohousedadrsquo)

The day begins with Joacuten and Sigriacuteethur waking up and getting up at 7 orsquoclock and while Sigriacuteethur has a shower and dresses Joacuten wakes up the children and gives them their breakfast in the kitchen and lets them take their fish liver oil He also makes coffee for the two of them Before Sigriacuteethur goes to work she helps Joacuten to dress the children After Sigriacuteethur is gone Joacuten and the children go for a walk At noon the family eats sandwiches at the kitchen table and listens to the midday news Then the time comes to take the children to kindergarten Joacuten returns home cleans up hooversvacuums and buys groceries

Sigriacuteethur is very busy at work The day is booked solid and she is continually at meetings but she still likes it at work Her colleagues are energetic and fun and they meet for a coffee or eat lunch together when the opportunity presents itself

When Sigriacuteethur comes home at 7 orsquoclock after a long dayrsquos work Joacuten has cooked dinner and she goes straight to the dinner table The family chats togethermdashthe children talk about what they did in school today Then they thank [their parents] for the meal and go out to play or do their homework for tomorrow Sigriacuteethur clears the table does the dishes and folds the laundry while Joacuten watches the news on television Then they all wish each other good night and go to bed

Haacutetiacuteethir og merkisdagar aacute Iacuteslandi holidays and feast days in Iceland

Bun day used to be the Monday before Lent On Bun day people have coffee and eat cream buns


Shrove Tuesday (lit lsquoexploding dayrsquo) was the last day before Lent It is an old custom to eat as much meat as possible and other things that were prohibited during Lent Many eat salt meat and peas on Shrove Tuesday

Ash Wednesday was the first day of Lent and is now a public holiday in Iceland Easter There are not many Icelandic traditions that are connected to Easter outside the

church holiday Nowadays people eat chocolate eggs (Easter eggs) but that is not a very old custom

Many ancient traditions seem on the other hand to be connected to the first day of summer which has long been an important holiday in Iceland It was an old custom that people gave summer gifts The first day of summer is the first Thursday after 18 April and is still a holiday today On the first day of summer people wish each other a happy summer

Fishermenrsquos day is the first Sunday in June first celebrated officially in 1938 There are many outdoor festivals and fishermen shipowners and the Minister of Fisheries deliver speeches

Seventeenth of June is Icelandrsquos national day Iceland became a republic on 17 June 1944 and 17 June is a great feast day all across the country There is a large gathering at Parliament House on Austurvoumlllur in Reykjaviacutek where the President of Iceland and the Prime Minister deliver speeches and the Mountain Lady delivers an address In the afternoon there are all kinds of festivities

Bank holiday weekend is the first weekend in August The Monday is a public holiday and many go on pleasure trips camping and to outdoor festivals

Christmas 23 December is Thorlaacutekrsquos Mass In many places across the country people eat skate on this day People also cut lsquoleaf breadrsquo particularly in northern Iceland On Christmas Eve 24 December at 6 orsquoclock the bells ring in Christmas People eat festively the traditional Christmas porridge ptarmigans or some other festive food and then open their gifts On Christmas Eve the last Christmas lad also arrives There are thirteen Christmas lads and they come to town to give the children gifts the first one thirteen days before Christmas Then they leave again the first one on Christmas Day On Christmas Day many eat smoked lamb and drink Christmas ale and all are dressed up If you do not get new clothes for Christmas the Christmas cat will come and eat all your Christmas food and you too if he gets the chance

New Year New Yearrsquos Eve and New Yearrsquos Day At night the elves lsquohidden peoplersquo move house Nowadays there are New Yearrsquos Bonfires on New Yearrsquos Eve and at midnight there are also many fireworks

Epiphany (Twelfth Night) The last day of the Christmas season Then there are elf-fires and people dance around the bonfires disguised as elves and trolls

Lesson 9

Fjoumllskyldan miacuten my family

My name is Kristiacuten Ragnarsdoacutettir I am seventeen years old My father is called Ragnar Hjaacutelmarsson He is a printer just like Sveinn my greatgrandfather My motherrsquos name is Eyruacuten Joacutensdoacutettir She is a school secretary I have three siblings two brothers and one


sister My brother Joacuten is the eldest He is twenty years old and is at sea (ie he is a fisherman) He is married to Lilja I am next and then comes my sister Soffiacutea She has just turned sixteen and has started grammar school Little Palli (Paacutell) is the youngest He is still in elementary school My niece Hulda is the first grandchild of mum and dad Joacuten and Lilja have just had her My sister-in-law Lilja is the same age as I am and we are good friends

My family and I live in Selfoss which is a town in southern Iceland We live in an old house in the town centre Dadrsquos workshop is at the side of the house Mum is very much into horses She has several horses and often when we come out of school we mother and daughter go riding

Granddad Hjaacutelmar and Granny Soffiacutea have a farm out in the country My great-grandmother Sigurbjoumlrg lives with them We often go to visit them when we are on holiday They have many sheep and cows and itrsquos always fun to go there I was named after granny Kristiacuten who lives in Reykjaviacutek with Guacutestaf my mumrsquos stepfather My grandfather died when mum was still small We always visit them when we go to Reykjaviacutek

Mum is an only child but I have many aunts uncles and cousins on dadrsquos side We are going to a family reunion next summer and I am looking forward to meeting all my relatives there

Lesson 10

Breacutef a letter

Dear THORNoacuterhallur Sigruacuten Joacutensdoacutettir from the Icelandic Embassy in Washington advised me to contact you I am learning Icelandic on my own because there are no Icelandic courses offered here in the area (neighbourhood) The problem is that I need books to practise the language Would you please send me a catalogue and information about (mail) orders and payment

Thank you very much in advance Yours sincerely John Anderson

Lesson 11

Hringfereth um Graelignland aacuterieth 2000 a trip around Greenland in the year 2000

The Akureyri travel agency plans in the millennial year 2000 to offer a two-week plane trip around Greenland with stops at over twenty places

There the participants will be given the opportunity to see polar bear settlements historically famous fjords and enjoy a view over glacial run-off areas The trip around Greenland costs one million kroacutenur and is or-ganized on the occasion of the millennium of Inuit settlement in Greenland


The round trip has caught the attention of people abroad if we may take seriously a study of exciting adventure trips by For Him magazine In a list of one hundred exciting travel possibilities for those who want to try something new it is in second place

Among other exciting trips on the list may be mentioned rapid sailing down the river Ganges a trip down to the Titanic an eight-month coach trip around Bali and a bike trip around Cuba

Lesson 12

Besta foacutetboltastelpan the best female footballer

She scored a magnificent goal in the former international match between Iceland and England in the autumn of 1994 and had thereby proved that she was one of the most important Icelandic female footballers Margreacutet Oacutelafsdoacutettir was elected the most promising player of the year 1993 and the best player in 1994 She is both in the international league U 20 and in the main league but she is obviously unaffected by her success and considers it important not to become arrogant Margreacutet studies at the Business School of Iceland but spends most of her free time football training When Margreacutet is asked what is so attractive about football she mentions the company lsquoI so much enjoy playing footballrsquo she adds and smiles lsquoTraining takes up a lot of time of course but I keep in close (lit lsquogoodrsquo) contact with my friendshelliprsquo Margreacutet sees herself continuing in football in the future She would like to go abroad and learn more about football Germany and the Nordic countries are uppermost in her mind but she has not informed herself yet where it is possible to get into football professionally What does it take to become such a good football player lsquoOne needs to apply oneself diligently train vigorously and live a healthy life It is also necessary to organize onersquos time well in order to tackle both training and studyingrsquo says Margreacutet and adds that her parents are also great sports people

Laacutettu thorneacuter liacuteetha vel Allow yourself to feel well

Improving onersquos health and well-being begins with ourselves Lifestyle has a real influence on how we feel both mentally and physically and we are responsible for our own lifestyle Most of us do not enjoy free time but rest is as important as exercise We increase our own well-being by letting our talents come into their own in work and play and find a release for our creativity at work and in our spare time Stress causes many difficulties but when we learn to relax for instance with music or meditation and release tension through physical exertion we feel less stress Most of us drive to work rather than walking or cycling and give ourselves hardly any time for daily exercise or room for leisure Exercise and participating in sports are healthy for body and soul and all movement from a light walk to heavy sports training has a good influence on the body and also on mental stress because then tension is released We must exercise regularly and this must be a part of daily life It is possible for almost everyone to practise walking or swimming Begin slowly and build it up little by little


Lesson 13

Iacutesland Iceland

Iceland was settled in the ninth century and the first settler was Ingoacutelfur Arnarson The Republic of Iceland is almost sixty years old The president lives at Bessastaethir in Aacuteltanes south of Reykjaviacutek The main areas of employment have been the fishing industry and agriculture but an ever-growing number of people work in service industries and business

Iceland is mountainous and on some of the highest mountains there are glaciers The largest glacier is Vatnajoumlkull which is as large as Luxemburg There are also many rivers and many lakes in Iceland and in the rivers are many beautiful waterfalls such as Dettifoss the largest waterfall in Europe There is also much salmon and trout in the rivers which many enjoy catching There are on the other hand few trees in Iceland

Many fjords and bays run into the country except on the southern coast where there are large sandy deserts In the sea around Iceland there are rich fishing grounds and good harbours are widespread There are many volcanoes in Iceland and some of them are active The most famous volcano without a doubt is Hekla which last erupted in 2000

In Iceland hot springs (where the water coming out of the earth is warm) and geysers (when the water comes up boiling) are widespread The best-known geyser in Iceland is Geysir and in many foreign languages geysers have been named after it The hot water is used in various ways among other things in swimming pools which are all around the country and many people go for a swim every day all year round Most houses in Iceland are heated with hot water as are the greenhouses The steam is used to produce electricity and large and fast-flowing rivers are also utilized for the production of electricity

It is not as cold in Iceland as many think but the climate is unsettled and often people see (lit lsquothere arersquo) many different kinds of weather in one day In the interior it is colder than down in the lowlands and on the coast and there is little growth Because of the weather communications (including traffic) are difficult in some areas and often roads are impassable during the greater part of the winter There are flights to most towns

THORNingvellir is the most famous historic site in Iceland In 930 the Icelandic Parliament (Althorningi) was founded there and held meetings there every year until Iceland became a part of the Norwegian crown (1262ndash4) But it also has much unique natural beauty THORNingvellir was declared a protected area and became a national park in 1928

Landshlutar parts of the country

The parts of the country are the West the West Fjords the North-West the North-East the East the East Fjords the South-East and the South The capital area and the Reykjanes peninsula are called the South-Western corner In the West there are two large bays Faxafloacutei and Breiethafjoumlrethur and a long peninsula runs out (into the sea) in between them which is called Snaeligfellsnes There is one of the most famous and most beautiful glaciers in the world Snaeligfellsjoumlkull Jules Verne wrote about Snaeligfellsjoumlkull in his famous book Journey to the Centre of the Earth The West Fjords are sparsely populated as transport links are often difficult and the soil is scanty but there are many good


nesting places for birds The area is mountainous and the landscape magnificent The main town is Iacutesafjoumlrethur In the North is situated the largest town outside the capital area Akureyri and one of the best-known places in the country Myacutevatn The landscape there has been moulded by volcanic eruptions and the heat of the earth is utilized at Mt Krafla In the East Fjords are high mountains and narrow fjords similar to the West Fjords In the East there is the largest forest in Iceland Hallormsstaethaskoacutegur which is 2000 hectares in size Egilsstaethir is one of the few towns that is not situated on the coast The South is the greatest agricultural area in Iceland where is after all most of the lowland as well as heated earth There are also many tourist destinations such as Skaftafell THORNoacutersmoumlrk Joumlkulsaacuterloacuten and Hvannadalshnuacutekur which is the highest mountain in the country (2119 m) The coast is largely without harbours since it is very dangerous to ships and many have perished there

Lesson 14

Saacutelin hans Joacutens miacutens (thornjoacuteethsaga) the soul of my Joacuten (a folk tale)

Once upon a time an old man and an old woman lived together The old man was rather difficult and unpopular and on top of that he was lazy and useless around the house His old lady did not like this at all and often scolded him But although they did not get along well in some respects the old woman still loved her old man very much

Then one time the old man became very ill and was in a very bad way The old woman kept vigil but when he did not get better she started thinking that he was not so well prepared for his death and it was a matter of doubt whether he would get entrance into the kingdom of heaven She then took a bag and held it in front of the manrsquos mouth and when he gave up the ghost it went into the bag and the woman tied it shut Then she went to the heavens with the bag came to the door and knocked on it St Peter then came out and asked her what her business was lsquoHellorsquo says the old woman lsquoIrsquove come here with the soul of my Jon and intend to ask you to let him in herersquo lsquoYes yesrsquo says Peter lsquobut unfortunately I cannot do that I have never heard anything good about your Jonrsquo Then the old woman said lsquoI didnrsquot think St Peter that you would be so hardhearted Have you forgotten what happened to you in the old days when you denied your masterrsquo Peter went inside again and locked the door and the old woman was left outside

After a little while she knocked on the door once more and then the Virgin Mary came out lsquoHello there my dearrsquo says the old woman lsquoI hope that you will let my Jon insidersquo lsquoUnfortunately loversquo says Mary lsquoI donrsquot dare to because he was so bad your Jonrsquo lsquoBut donrsquot you knowrsquo says the old woman lsquothat others can be weak like you or donrsquot you remember that you had a child outside of wedlockrsquo Mary didnrsquot want to hear any more and quickly locked the door

For the third time the old woman knocked on the door Then Christ himself came out The old woman spoke humbly lsquoI wanted to ask you to promise this poor soul entrance herersquo Christ answered lsquoThat is your Jonmdashno woman he didnrsquot believe in mersquo But at the same moment that he closed the door again the old woman threw the bag with the soul inside past him Then a heavy weight was lifted from the old womanrsquos heart knowing that her Jon had gone to heaven and she returned home happy


Breacutef a letter

Dear Aacuteslaug I apologize for how long I have been delayed in writing to you but I have been so

very busy When I came home from Iceland it appeared that my house had been broken into The burglars took my computer CD player television and video recorder Fortunately I left no money behind But there was a lot of bother surrounding it all Early the next day I had to go to the police station to give a statement get in touch with the insurance company etc

Otherwise everything is fine here It is insanely busy as always but I am happy in my work My parents are also doing well and they pass on their regards

How are things going for you Have you become used to your new flat How was Kjartanrsquos party wasnrsquot it fun I was sorry to miss it

I warmly thank you once again for everything It was wonderful to see you again Be well and pass on my best regards to your family

Sincerely Joyce

Uacuter Brennu Njaacutels soumlgu from the story of burnt Njaacutell

Gunnar was sleeping in one loft in the lodge as well as Hallgerethur and his mother And when they came to the farm they did not know whether Gunnar would be at home Gissur said that someone should go to the (farm)houses and find out and in the meantime they sat down in the field THORNorgriacutemur from the East went up onto the lodge Gunnar sees a red tunic appear at the window and ventures out with his halberd through his middle THORNoacutergriacutemurrsquos feet slipped and the shield came loose and he toppled off the roof Then he walks to Gissur and the men where they were sitting in the field Gissur looked at him and said lsquoIs Gunnar homersquo lsquoYou find out for yourselves but what I do know is that his halberd was at homersquo says the Eastman Then he fell down dead They went to them at their houses

At this moment THORNorbrandur THORNorleiksson jumps up on the roof and cuts in two Gunnarrsquos bowstring Gunnar grabs his halberd with both hands and turns quickly towards him and strikes the halberd through him and throws him dead on to the field Then his brother Aacutesbrandur leapt up Gunnar puts his halberd to him and he put up a shield in front of him The halberd ran through the shield and then between the arms Gunnar then snared his halberd so tight that the shield split and both arms broke and he fell off the wall Before this Gunnar had wounded eight men and slain these two Then Gunnar received two wounds and all men said that he flinched neither at the wounds nor at death

He said to Hallgerethur lsquoGet me two locks from your hair and turn them into a bowstring for me you and my motherrsquo lsquoDoes anything depend upon itrsquo she says lsquoMy life depends upon itrsquo he says lsquobecause they will never get me while I have the chance to use my bowrsquo lsquoThen I will nowrsquo she says lsquoremind you of the slap in my face and Irsquoll never care whether you defend yourself for a longer or a shorter timersquo lsquoEveryone has something to their distinctionrsquo says Gunnar lsquoand I will not ask you for this any longerrsquo Rannveig said lsquoThis ill becomes you and your shame will be long-livedrsquo


Lesson 15

Oacutehjaacutekvaeligmilegt aeth lyf seacuteu eitthvaeth dyacuterari heacuter aacute landi inevitable that medicine is somewhat more expensive here in Iceland

Spokespersons for the pharmaceutical companies do not want to recognize that medicine is 26 per cent more expensive in Iceland than in neighbouring countries They say that a registered maximum price which is proposed as a reference for these calculations has nothing in common with a realistic price for medicine in this country although it is certainly true that medicine is due to the smallness of the market more expensive in Iceland than in the countries referred to

It appeared amongst other things in a speech of Ingibjoumlrg Paacutelmadoacutettir Minister of Health during a discussion held outside the agenda about the cost of medicine by the government in parliament last week that the price of medicine was 26 per cent higher here and that work was needed to lower this rate

THORNoacuterir Haraldsson assistant to the Minister said in an interview with Morgunblaethieth that this was based on information from the (Social) Insurance Department and the Committee for the Prices of Medicine

Lesson 16

Reykjaviacutek

Reykjaviacutek is the capital of Iceland and the countryrsquos only city Its population is about 100000 It has the largest harbour and the main cultural and business institutions in the country are also to be found there Although Reykjaviacutek is not a big city compared to the cities of millions around the world it definitely has an international flavour

The city of Reykjaviacutek is not old although it was built on the home field of the first settler in Iceland Ingoacutelfur Arnarson who set up a farm there around 874 After this Reykjaviacutek appears little on the scene for centuries on end although there is supposed to have been a trading centre there early in the sixteenth century In 1786 Reykjaviacutek was granted a trading licence There were then about 167 inhabitants The cityrsquos oldest house Aethalstraeligti 10 dates from this time

In 1845 the Althorningi was resurrected in Reykjaviacutek and during the last years of the nineteenth century there began a rapid and great development in the fishing industry with the arrival of motorized boats and trawlers which helped to increase the growth and success of the city In 1904 executive power was moved from Copenhagen to Reykjaviacutek A great migration from the countryside to the city took place during the 1930s and 1940s which played an important part in changing the old Icelandic farmersrsquo society into a modern society within a very short time In 1950 the number of inhabitants had increased from 5800 around the turn of the century to 56000

Reykjaviacutek is attractive to both domestic and foreign tourists although in different ways In the city social and cultural life flourish particularly in the summer whether it is in the city centre the cafes or the cultural institutions Cultural Night in the city centre is now a high point of the summer The parliament building the cathedral and the town hall


are examples of remarkable buildings old and new and in the Ethnographic Museum and the Aacuterbaeligr open air museum it is possible to become acquainted with the history of the country and the city And yet one need never go far either to enjoy the outdoors because there are many pearls of nature in the city landscape where it is possible to retreat from the hustle and bustle of city life

Fyrsta thornakhuacutesieth aacute Iacuteslandi opnueth almenningi the first penthouse in Iceland opened to the public

As from today the flat of Einar Joacutensson the sculptor will be open to museum guests The flat is in the Einar Joacutensson museum where the couple Einar and Anna his wife lived from 1923 until 1954 when Einar died

lsquoIt can be said that this is the first penthouse in Icelandrsquo says Hrafnhildur Schram director of the museum lsquoThe flat will now be a part of the museum and open to guests It is a lot of fun to open it it brings museum visitors closer to the person Einar wasrsquo Einar furnished the flat and designed much of the furniture which is in it lsquoHe designed amongst other things book cases which are formed like columnal basalt which plays a rich part in his works Indeed it may be said that the house itself is Einarrsquos largest sculpturersquo

The Einar Joacutensson Museum is 75 years old next year and for that occasion it was decided to renovate the outside of the house The house was in a very bad state Now we are changing the windows and mending the wall We had to repair all the cracks and change the metal work and now quartz dust will be put to all of the buildingrsquo The work will cost 27 million kroacutenur and has gone according to plan


Icelandic-English glossary aeth viacutesu to be sure aeth prep+dat (up) to towards aethal- main aethallega adv mainly aethdaacuteandi (-a -ar) m fan aetheins adv only just aethgangur (s) m

access entrance

aethstoetha (aethstoetha aethstoethaethi aethstoethaeth) acc assist af hverju why af thornviacute aeth because af prep+dat off afi (-a -ar) m grandfather afar adv very most afgreiethslu-maethur (-manns -menn) m shop assistant afleiething (-ar -ar) f consequence afmaeligli (-s -) n birthday atskipti npl dealings afslaacutettur (-ar) m discount aftur adv again aftur a moacuteti on the other handaka (ek oacutek oacuteku ekieth) dat drive akstur (-s) m driving alast (elst oacutelst oacutelust alist) upp grow up aldeilis adv totally absolutely aldrei adv never allur adj all allt adv completely totally meeth oumlllu the works allt iacute lagi all right okay alls staethar everywhere alltaf adv always almenningur (-s) m general public althorningi (-s) n parliament althorningis-maethur (-manns -menn) m Member of Parliamentalthornjoacuteethlegur adj international alvarlegur adj serious iacute alvoumlru seriously alveg adv quite about to amma (-u -ur) grandmother

f andartak (-s -) moment n andlega adv mentally spiritually andlit (-s -) n face annars by the way ansi adv pretty apoacutetek (-s -) n pharmacy appeiacutesina (-u -ur) f orange appelsiacutenugulur orange adj athuga (athuga athugaethi athugaeth) acc check look into athygli findecl attention atvinna (-u) f work employmentauethmjuacutekur adj humble auethugur adj rich wealthy auethveldur adj easy auga (-a -u) n eye augnablik (-s -) moment n auk prep+gen apart from auk thorness in addition auka accaukast increase (eykst joacutekst jukust aukist) intrans auka- pref extra additional austur adv east fyrir austan acc to the east of a (-r -r) f river a prep+datacc on per aacuteaeligtlun (-ar -ir) plan schedule f aacuteberandi adj indecl striking aacuteburethur (-ar) m ointment cream aacutebyrgeth (-ar) f responsibility aacuteethur adv before aacutegaeligtur adj fine okay aacutegaeligtlega adv fine aacutehersla (-u -ur) f emphasis leggja aacuteherslu aacute emphasize aacutehrif npl influence aacutehugi (-a -ar) interest m

aacutehugamaacutel (-s -) n interest hobby aacutehyggja (-u -ur) f care worry

Icelandic-english glossary 269

aacutekveetha (aacutekveeth decide aacutekvaeth aacutekvaacuteethum aacutekveethieth) (seacuter) acc aacutelegg (-s -) n luncheon meat aacuten prep+gen without aacutenaeliggethur adj content happy aacutenaeliggja (-u) f pleasure miacuten var the pleasure aacutenaeliggjan was all mine aacuter (-s -) n year aacuteramoacutet npl New Year aacuteratugur (-s -ar) m decade aacutereynsla (-u) f effort exertion aacutershaacutetieth (-ar -ir) f annual celebration staff partyaacuterstiacuteeth (-ar -ir) f season aacutest (-ar -ir) f love aacutevaxtasafi (-a -ar) m fruit juice baeth (-s -) n bath bathroom baetha (baetha baethaethi baethaeth) sig bathe baethherbergi (-s -) n

bathroom

bak (-s -) n back baka (baka bakaethi bakaeth) acc bake bakariacute (-s -) n bakery bakpoki (-a -ar) m backpack

banani (-a -ar) m banana Bandariacutekin npl the United States Bandariacutekja-maethur (-manns -menn) m person from the US bandar iacuteskur adj American from the USbanki (-a -ar) m bank banna (banna bannaethi bannaeth) prohibit dat+acc barn (-s -) n child barnabarn (-s -) n grandchild batna (batnar batnaethi batnaeth) imp get better baun (-ar -ir) f pea bean baacutetur (-s -ar) m boat beinn adj straight direct bera (ber bar baacuteru borieth) carry acc bera fram serve bera fram af clear the table borethinu


berja (ber barethi barieth) acc hit knock berjamoacuter (-s) tara iacute berjamoacute go berry-picking bibliacutea (-u -ur) f biethja (bieth baeth buethu beethieth) bible ask for um acc biethja aeth heilsa give onersquos regards

biethstofa (-u -ur) f waiting room bil (-s -) n moment um thornaeth bil around iacute bili at the momentbinda (bind batt bundu bundieth) acc bind tie binda fyrir bind shut bindi (-s -) n tie birta (birti birti birt) brighten biskup (-s -ar) m bishop biacuteetha (bieth beieth biethu biethieth) wait biacuteetha eftir dat wait for biacutell (-s -ar) m car biacutelstjoacuteri (-a -ar) m driver biacuteoacute (-s -) n cinema bjartur adj bright bjoacuteetha (byacuteeth baueth buethu boethieth) offer wish dat+acc bjoacuter (-s -ar) m beer blaeth (-s -) n paper blaetha-maethur (-manns -menn) m journalist blaethsietha (-u -ur) f page blanda (blanda blandaethi blandaeth) dat blend blanda seacuter interfere inn iacute acc involve oneselfblautur adj wet blaacuter (blaacutett n) blue adj bleikur adj pink

blessaethur adj hello how do (blessueth) f you do komdu blessaethur vertu goodbye blessaethur blokk (-ar -ir) f block of flats blotna (blotna blotnaethi blotnaeth) get wet intrans bloacuteeth (-s -) n blood bloacutem (-s -) n flower plant bloacutemlegur adj flourishing


bloacutemstia (bloacutemstra bloacutemstraethi bloacutemstraeth) bloom flourishbolur (-s -ir) m torso shirt bolli (-a -ar) m cup boreth (-s -) n table boretha (boretha borethaethi borethaeth) acc eat borg (-ar -ir) f city borga (borga borgaethi borgaeth) dat+acc pay boacutek (-ar book baeligkur) f boacutekabuacuteeth (-ar -ir) f bookshop boacutekhald (-s) n bookkeeping boacutemull (-ar) f cotton boacutendi (-a baeligndur) m farmer boacutendabaeligr (-jar -ir) m farm

brageth (-s -) n taste bragethast (bragethast bragethaethist bragethast) taste intrans brak (-s) n crash braueth (-s -) n bread braacuteethum adv soon bregetha (bregeth braacute brugethu brugethieth) seacuter vieth acc react to flinch atbrenniiacutem (-s -) n Icelandic aquavitBretland (-s) n Britain breyta (breyti breytti breytt) dat change breytast change (breytist breyttist breyst) intrans breytilegur adj changeable brethf (-s -) n letter brjaacutelaethur adj crazy brjoacutest (-s -) n chest breast brjoacuteta (bryacutet braut brutu brotieth) acc break brjoacuteta saman acc fold brjoacutetast inn break in brottfoumlr (-ar) f departure broacuteethir (-ur braeligethur) m brother bruacute (-ar bryacuter) f bridge bruacuteethkaup (-s -) n wedding bruacutenn adj brown braeligetha (braeligethi melt braeligddi braeligtt) acc

bursta (bursta burstaethi burstaeth) acc brush bursta (iacute seacuter) brush onersquos tennurnar teeth buacutea (by bjoacute bjuggu buacuteieth) live


buacuteinn (buacuteieth) n finished done vera buacuteinn aeth be finished doing buacutea til acc prepare buacuteast vieth dat expect buacuteeth (-ar -ir) f shop byggeth (-ar settlement -ir) f habitat inhabited area bygging (-ar -ar) f building byggja (byggi byggethi byggt) acc build settle byrja (byrja byrjaethi byrjaeth) begin byrja aacute dat start with begin bybyrjun (-ar -ir) f beginning baeligethi n of baacuteethir both baeligr (-jar -ir) m town baeligta (baeligti baeligtti baeligtt) vieth dat add dagur (-s -ar) m day iacute dag today nuacute a doumlgum nowadays dagboacutek (-ar -baeligkur) f diary dagsetning (-ar -ar) f date dagskraacute (-r -r) f programme

dansa (dansa dansaethi dansaeth) dance dansleikur (-ar -ir) m dance dauethi (-a) m death detta (dett datt duttu dottieth) fall deyja (dey doacute doacuteu daacuteieth) die diskur (-s -ar) m plate disk dolla(-u -ur) f pot doacutes (-ar -ir) f tin doacutet (-s) n stuff doacutettir (-ur daeligtur) f daughter draga (dreg droacute droacutegu dregieth) acc draw delay draga ur dat take away withdrawdraumur (-s -ar) m dream drekka (drekk drakk drukku drukkieth) acc drink drepa (drep drap draacutepu drepieth) acc kill drepa aacute dyacuter knock on the door driacutefa (driacutef dreif hurry (up) get drifu drifieth) sig going druslulegur adj sloppy duglegur adj diligent industriousdunda (dunda play about busy dundaethi dundaeth) seacuter vieth acc oneself with

dvelja (dvel dvaldi dvalieth) stay


dvoumll (-ar -ir) f stay dyacuter fpl door dyacuter adj expensive daeligmi (-s -) n example doumlkkhaeligrethur adj dark-haired eetha conj or eethli (-s) n nature eethlisfar (-s -) nature n disposition eethlilegur adj natural efling (-ar -ar) f increase efni (-s -) n material efnilegur adj promising efri advcomp upper eftir prep+datacc after eiga (a aacutetti aacutett) acc have own eiga til acc have available in onersquos possession eiga aeth have to should eiga heima live eiga von aacute dat expect eiga eftir have left eigin adjindecl (onersquos) own eiginkona (-u -ur) f wife eigin-maethur (-manns husband -menn) m einbyacuteli (-s -) n single room einn (eitt n) numadj one alone einu sinni once upon a time einhver (eitthvaeth n) someone pron einka- pref private einkabarn (-s -) n only child einkenni (-s -) n characteristics einmitt adv exactly einnig also eins conj as eins og like such as as as einstakur adj unique eitthvaeth (n of einhver) something ekkert (n of enginn) nothing ekki not eldur (-s -ar) m fire elda (elda cook eldaethi eldaeth) acc


eldast (eldist ellisl elst) become older eldaveacutel (-ar -ar) f cooker stove eldfjall (-s -) n volcano eldhuacutes (-s -) n kitchen elska (elska elskaethi love elskaeth) acc elstur adjsuperl oldest en conj but and comp than excl en howwhat enda (enda endaethi endaeth) end enda conj and whatrsquos more in fact

endilega by all means endur- pref again re enginn (ekkert n) pron no (one) Englendingur (-s -ar) m English person ennthornaacute adv still yet enska (-u) f English erfiethur adj difficult erfiethleiki (-a -ar) m difficulty erindi (-s -) n business erranderlendur adj foreign erlendis adv abroad ey (-jar -jar) eyja (-u -ar) f island eyetha (eyethi eyddi eytt) dat spend eyra (-a -u) n ear eacuteg pron I fagur adj beautiful falla (feacutell feacutell feacutellu fallieth) fall fallegur adj beautiful far (-s -) n ride passage fara (fer for foacuteru farieth) go fara eftir dat depend on fara iacute acc go (in)to put onfara ur dat take off farthornegi (-a -ar) m passenger faacute (faelig feacutekk fengu fengieth) get obtain dat+acc faacute seacuter gethave oneselffaacutest acc be available faacutest vieth take on

fegureth (-ar ir) f beauty feiminn adj shy feitur adj fat


fereth (-ar -ir) f trip journey feretha-maethur traveller (-manns -menn) m tourist ferethaskrifstofa (-u -ur) f travel agency ferethast (ferethast ferethaethist ferethast) travel ferna (-u -ur) f carton feacutelagsliacutef (-s) n social life social activityfimmtudagur (-s -ar) m Thursday fingur (-s -) m finger finna (fiacutenn fann fundu find fundieth) acc finnast imp find think finna fyrir dat feel (something) finna til iacute dat hurt fiskur (-s -ar) m fish fiska (fiska fiskaethi fiskaeth) vb fish fiski (-jar) f fishing fiskimieth (-s -) n fishing grounds fiskveiethi (-ar -ar) f fishing fill (-s -ar) m elephant fiacutenn adj fine elegant posh fjall (-s -) n mountain fjalla (fjalla deal with be fjallaethi fjallaeth) about um acc fjandi adv darned fjandi (-a ar) n devil fjoacutelublaacuter (fjoacutelublaacutett n) purple adj

f joacuterhjoacuteladrifinn

four-wheel drive

adj fjoacuterir (fjoacuterar f fjoumlgur n) four fjoumllbreyttur varied diverse adj fjoumlldi (-a -ar) m large number crowd fjoumllloacutettur adj mountainous fjoumllskylda (-u -ur) f family fjoumlr (-s) n vitality fun fjoumlrethur (fjarethar firethir) m fjord flaska (-u -ur) f bottle fleiri comp more (eitthvaeth nokkueth) fleira anything else flensa (-u) f flu flestir plsuperl most


flinkur adj good adept (at something)fliacutek (-ar -ur) f piece of clothing fljoacutet (-s -) n river fljoacutetur adj fast quick fljoacutett adv quickly fljuacutega (flyacuteg flaug flugu flogieth) fly floacutei (-a -ar) m large bay flottur adj great lsquocoolrsquo flugeldar (-a) fireworks mpl flugpoacutestur air mail (-s) m flugstoumleth (-var -var) f airport terminal flugveacutel (-ar -ar) f aeroplane flug-voumlllur (-vallar airport -vellir) m flytja (flyt flutti deliver recite flutt) acc move house flyacuteta (flyacuteti flytti flyacutett) seacuter hurry (up) forethum adv before long ago foreldrar mpl parents form (-s -) n form shape formlegur adj formal forsaeligtisraacuteethherra (-(- -r) m Prime Minister forseti (-a -ar) m president forstoumlethu-maethur (-manns -menn) m leader director foss (-(- -ar) m waterfall folk (-s) n people foacutetur (-ar faeligtur) m foot leg fara a faeligtur get up (out of bed) foacutetbolti (-a) m footboll frakki (-a -ar) menrsquos overcoat m Frakkland (-s) n France fram adv forwards on(wards)framhjaacute adv past framkyaeligma carry out (framkvaeligmi execute framkvaeligmdi framkvaeligmt) acc

framleietha (framleiethi framleiddi framleitt) acc

produce

framleiethsla (-u) f production framorethieth late


franskur adj French franskar chips french (kartoumlflur) fpl fries fraacute prep+dat from fraacutebaeligr adj wonderful great fraacuteskilinn adj divorced frekar adv rather fremur adv rather freacutettir fpl news friethaethur adj declared a national monument protected area friacute (-s -) n holidays vacation time off friacutemerki (-s -) n stamp friacuteskur adj healthy feeling well frjaacutels adj free frost (-s) n frost fraeligethi npl studies (findecl as last element of a compound -

ologyrsquo) fraeliggur adj famous fraeligndi (-a -ur) m male relative fraeligndfoacutelk (-s) n relatives fraelignka (-u -ur) f female relative fugl (-s -ar) m bird

full- pref very fullur adj full drunk aacute fullu very busy fundur (-ar -ir) m meeting funda (funda fundaethi fundaeth) hold a meeting fylla (fylli fill fyllti fyllt) acc fyndinn adj funny witty fyrir utan acc apart from outside offyrir prep + datacc for ago fyrirfram in advance fyrir-gefa (-gef -gaf -gaacutefu -gefieth) acc forgive fyrirgefethu excuse me fyrirtaeligki company firm (-s -) n fyrirtaks- pref excellent fyrr (en) adv before until iacute fyrramaacutelieth tomorrow morning fyrri compadj previous former fyrst adv first fyrstur adj fyrst conj since as


faeligethast (faeligethist faeligddist faeligst) be born faeligra (faeligri faeligrethi faeligrt) move bring acc+dat foumlethurnafn patronymic (-s -) n foumllur adj pale foumlstudagur (-s -ar) m Friday

foumlt npl clothes clothinggallabuxur fpl jeans gamal1 (goumlmul old f) adj gamaldags old-fashioned indecladj gaman (-s) n fun gamanmynd (-ar -ir) m comedy film gangur (-s -ar) m hallway ganga (geng gekk gengu gengieth) walk go garethur (-s -ar) m garden park gata (-u -ur) f street gefa (gef gaf gaacutefu gefieth) give dat+acc gegnum through prep+acc geislaspilari (-a -ar) m CD player gengi (-s) n going success gera (geri gerethi gert) acc do make gera vieth acc fix gera aeth dat turn into gerast happen gestur (-s -ir) m guest gestgjafi (-a -ar) m host geta (get gat can gaacutetu getieth) acc geyma (geymi keep geymdi geymt) acc giftur adj married

gifta siggiftast get married (giftist giftist gifst) dat marry gifting (-ar -ar) f wedding (ceremony) gil (-s -) n ravine girnilegur adj appetizing gista (gisti gisti gist) stay overnight gistihuacutes (-s -) n guesthouse gisting (-ar -ar) f accommodation gjald (-s -) n fee charge


gjarnan adv gladly gjoacutesa (gyacutes gaus gusu gosieth) erupt gjoumlf (-ar -ir) f gift present gjoumlra see gera gjoumlrethu svo vel here you are be my guest go aheadglaethur adj happy cheerful gle5i findecl joy gleraugu npl glasses spectacles gleyma (gleymi gleymdi gleymt) dat forget gluggi (-a -ar) m window glaeligsilegur adj elegant magnificent gos (-s -) n eruption soft drink gosdrykkur (-jar -ir) m soft drink goacuteethur adj goacuteethan dag(inn) good good morning good afternoon goacuteethi minngoacuteetha miacuten my dear

goacuteethgaeligti (-s -) n delicacy goacutelf (-s -) n floor gramm (-s -) n gram grannur adj slim gras (-s -) n grass grautur (-s -ar) m porridge graacuter (graacutett n) grey adj graacuteta (graeligt greacutet greacutetu graacutetieth) cry greietha (greiethi greiddi greitt) dat pay + acc greietha seacuter comb onersquos hair greiethsla (-u -ur) f payment greiethslukort (-s -) n credit card grein (-ar -ar) f article greinilegur adj obvious grill (-s -) n barbecue grill griacutepa (grip greip gripu gripieth) acc seize grab groacuteethur (-s) m growth groacuteethurhuacutes greenhouse (-s -) n gruna (grunar grunaethi grunaeth) suspect impacc grunnskoacuteli (-a -ar) m elementary schoolgraelignn adj green graelignmetisaeligta vegetarian (-u -ur) f gufa (-u -ur) f gulur adj gull (-s -) n steam yellow gold

gaeliglunafn (-s -) n pet name


gaeligta (gaeligti watch out for gaeligtti gaeligtt) siacuten aacute dat goumlngufereth (-ar -ir) f hiking trip walkgoumlnguskiacuteethi (-s -) n cross-country skihafa (hef hafethi haft) acc have hagstaeligethur adj economical haka (-u -ur) f chin halda (held held heacuteldu halclieth) dat hold acc think halda aacutefram continue go dat on halda vieth keep stick to halda upp a celebrate like acc hamborgari hamburger (-a -ar) m hamingja (-u) f happiness til hamingju congratula (meeth acc) tions (on ) handa for (someone) prep+dat handavinna handiwork (-u) f handklaeligethi towel (-s -) n handleggur arm (-s -ir) m hanga (hangi hang heacutekk heacutengu hangieth) hangikjoumlt (-s) n smoked lamb hann pron he happdraeligtti (-s -) n lottery

harethbrjoacutesta adjindecl hard-hearted harla adv extremely hattur (-s -ar) m hat haus (-s ar) m (animal) head haust (-s -) n autumn haacuter adj high tall haacutedegi (-s) n eftir haacutedegi noon (in the) afternoonhaacutedegismatur (-ar) m lunch haacutelftiacutemi (-a -ar) m half an hour haacutels (-(- -ar) m neck throat haacutelsboacutelga (-u) f sore throat haacuter (-s -) n hair haacuteskoacuteli (-a -ar) m university haacutetiacuteeth (-ar -ir) f feast festival holiday


haacutetiacuteethahoumlld npl festivities haacutetta (haacutetta haacutettaethi haacutettaeth) go to bed haacutevaxinn adj tall (of build) hefethbundinn traditional adj hefja (hef hoacutef hoacutefu hafieth) begin commence acc heill adj whole heilbrigethur adj healthy heilla (heilla heillaethi enchant attract heillaeth) acc heilsa (-u) f health heilsa (heilsa heilsaethi heilsaeth) dat greet heilsugaeligslustoumleth (-var -var) f health centre

heima adv at home heimili (-s -) n home heimilisfang (-s -) n address heimsaeligkja visit (heimsaeligki heimsoacutetti heimsoacutett) acc heimsoacutekn (-ar -ir) f visit heitur adj hot heita (heiti heacutet heacutetu heitieth) be called heitinn eftir called after heldur adv rather ekki heldur neither helgi (-ar -ar) f weekend hella (helli hellli hellt) pour dat helmingur (-s -ar) m half helst adv preferably advsuperl most prominenthengja (hengi hengdi hengt) hang up acc hennar pron her henta (hentar hentaethi hentaeth) dat suit heppni findecl luck her (-s -ir) m army herbergi (-s -) n room herethar fpl shoulders hestur (-s -ar) m horse fara aacute hestbak (go) riding heyra (heyri hear heyrethi heyrt) acc heyrethu listen


heacuteethan adv from here heacuter(na) dem here hilla (-u -ur) f shelf him-inn (-ins -nar) m sky himnariacuteki heaven (-s -) n hingaeth adv to here (hither) hinn (hitt n) the the other pron one hins vegar on the other hand hissa adjindecl surprised hiti (-a) m heat (above zero) tempera ture fever hitabr uacutesi (-a -ar) m thermos hitamaeliglir (-is -ar) m thermometer hitta (hitti hitti hitt) acc meet hjarta (-a -u) n heart hjaacute prep+dat next to with hjaacutelp (-ar) f help hjaacutelpa (hjaacutelpa hjaacutelpaethi hjaacutelpaeth) dat help hjoacutel (-s -) n bicycle hjoacuten npl couple hjoacutenaband (-s -) n marriage hjuacutekrunar- (registered) fraeligethingur nurse (-s -ar) m hlakka (hlakka look forward to hlakkaethi hlakka5) til gen hlaupa (hleyp hljoacutep hlupu hlaupieth) run hlaupa inn dat let someone in

hlaacutetur (-s) m laughter hleacute (-s -) n pause interval hlieth (-ar -ar) f side vieth hliethina aacute dat to the side of hljoethfaeri musical (-s -) n instrument hljoacutemsveit (-ar -ir) f orchestra band hljoacuteta (hlyacutet hlaut hlutu hlotieth) acc receive must hlusta (hlusta hlustaethi hlustaeth) aacute acc listen to hluti (-a -ar) m part hlutur (-ar -ir) m thing hlutfall (-s -) n proportion rate ratiohlutverk (-s -) n part role hlyacuter adj warm


hlyacutena (hlyacutena hlyacutenaethi hlyacutenaeth) get warm intrans hlaeligja (hlaelig hloacute hloacutegu hlegieth) laugh hneacute (-s -) n knee hniacutefur (-s -ar) m knife hollur adj healthy horfa (horfi horfethi horft) watch aacute acc hoacutepur (-s -ar) m group hoacutepfereth (-ar -ir) f group trip

hoacutesta (hoacutesta hoacutestaethi hoacutestaeth) cough hotel (-s -) n hotel hratt adv fast hreinn adj clean hreinlaeligtisvoumlrur toiletries fpl hress adj energetic fit hressast (hressist become fit hresstist hresst) refresh recover hreyfa (hreyfi hreyfethi hreyft) sig move exercise hrifinn af very taken adj+dat infatuated with hringur (-s -ar) m ring hringja (hringi hringdi hringt) acc ring hryllilega adv dreadfully hraeligddur adj afraid hugmynd (-ar -ir) f idea hugsa (hugsa hugsaethi hugsaeth) acc think huldufoacutelk (-s) n elf elfin people hundur (-s -ar) m dog hundraeth (-s -) n hundred huacuteeth (-ar -ir) f skin huacutefa (-u -ur) f woollen hat huacuten pron she huacutesgoumlgn npl furniture huacutesnaeligethi (-s) n accommodation lodginghvaeth (n of hver) inter what

hvaeth [adj] how hvaetha inter what kind of hvaethan inter where from hvalur (-s -ir) m whale hvar inter where hvass adj windy blowing hard hver (hvaeth n) inter who hvers konar what kind of


hver (-s -ir) m hot spring geyser hvergi adv nowhere hvernig inter how hvert inter where to hviacutela (hviacuteli hviacuteldi hviacutelt) rest (oneself) sig hviacutetur adj white hvorki neacute neither nor hvort inter whether which (of two)hyggjast (hyggst hugethist hugast) intend plan hae5 (-ar -ir) f floor storey haeligfileiki (-a -ar) m talent ability haeliggur adj slow possible haeliggri right houmlfethingi (-jaacute -jar) m leader houmlfn (-ar -ir) f harbour houmlfueth (-s -) n head houmlfuethstaethur capital (-ar -ir) m houmlfuethverkur headache (-jar -ir) m houmlggva (houmlgg hegg hjoacute hjuggu hoggieth) acc cut hew chop

houmlnd (handar hendur) f hand arm fara iacute houmlnd approach illa adv badly indaell adj friendly lovely delightfulinn (dat inni) adv in into inside innan prep+gen within inngangur (-s -ar) m entrance innifalinn adj included innilega adv affectionately iacute prep+datacc in(to) iacute kring(um) around prep+acc iacute senn adv at a time iacute sundur adv apart in two pieces iacutebuacuteeth (-ar -ir) f flat iacutebuacutei (-a -ar) m inhabitant iacutehugun (-ar) f reflection meditation is (-s -ar) m ice-cream iacutesbjoumlrn (iacutesbjarnar iacutesbirnir) m polar bear Island (-s) n Iceland iacuteslenska (-u) f Icelandic iacutesskapur (-s -ar) m fridge iacutetarlegur adj detailed


iacutethornroacutettir fpl sports jaacute yes jafn adv equally jakki (-a -ar) m jacket jarethvegur (-s) m soil joacutel npl Christmas joacutelasveinn (-s one of the -ar) m thirteen

Icelandic Christmas ladselvesjaeligja well joumlreth (-ar -ir) f earth kaffi (-s) n coffee kaffisopi (-a -ar) m sip of coffee a coffee kaka (-u -ur) f cake kaldur (kalt n) cold adj kalla (kalla kallaethi kallaeth) acc call kannast (kannast kannaethist kannast) recognize vieth acc kannski adv perhaps karl (-s -ar) m (old) man kartafla (-u -ur) f potato kasta (kasta kastaethi kastaeth) dat cast throw kasta upp vomit kaupa (kaupi keypti keypt) buy acc kaupa iacute mat buy groceries kaupstaethur town (-ar -ir) m kaacutepa (-u -ur) f coat kenna (kenni kenndi kennt) teach dat+acc kenna vi5 kennari (-a -ar) m name after teacher keppa (keppi keppti keppt) compete

kerling (-ar -ar) f old woman kerti (-s -) n candle keyra (keyri keyrethi keyrt) drive acc kiloacute(gramm) kilo(gram) (-s -) n kind (-ar -ur) f sheep kjallari (-a -ar) m cellar basement kjol1 (-s -ar) m dress kjoacutesa (kyacutes kaus kusu kosieth) vote acc


kjoumlrinn adj elected kjoumlt (-s) n meat kjoumltkraftur meat bouillon (-s) m stock klaustur (-s -ar) m monastery cloisterklaacutera (klaacutera klaacuteraethi klaacuteraeth) acc finish klaeligethast wear be dressed (klaeligethist klaeligddist) dat in klaeligetha sig dress get dressed klukka (-u -ur) f clock klukkutimi (-a -ar) m one hour knattspyrna (-u) f football kokkur (-s -ar) m cook koma (kem kom komu komieth) come koma seacuter af staeth get going

(thornaacute er thornaeth) komieth thatrsquos it kominn meeth have got have acc caught koma a oacutevart surprise dat koma saman get along imp koma iacute ljoacutes appear koma vieth acc touch call on koma fram behave appear komast get there kona (-u -ur) f woman kort (-s -) n map korter (-s -) n quarter (of an hour) kosta (kosta kostaethi cost kostaeth) acc kostur (-ar choice chance -ir) m advantage gefast kostur be offered the aacute dat possibility of aeth minnsta kosti at least koacutek (-s) n cola koacutelna (koacutelna koacutelnaethi koacutelnaeth) cool down get cold intrans konungsriacuteki kingdom (-s -) n koacuter (-s -ar) m choir kraftur (-s -ar) m force krem (-s -) n cream kristnitaka (-u) f christianization


kroacutena (-u -ur) f crown (Icelandic currency unit)krullaethur adj curly krydd (-s -) n spice

kuldi (-a) m cold kunna (kann kunni kunnaeth) know how to kunna velilla likedislike vieth acc kunningi (-jaacute -jar) m acquaintance kveethja (kveeth kvaddi kvatt) say goodbye acc kvef (-s) n cold kveikja (kveiki kveikti kveikt) acc light kveikja a dat turn on kvoumlld (-s -) n evening iacute kvoumlld tonight kvoumlldmatur supper (-ar) m kynna (kynni kynnti kynnt) introduce acc kynnast (kynnist kynntist kynnst) dat meet get to knowkynning (-ar -ar) f introduction kyacuter (-(- -) f cow kaeligr adj dear kaeligrasta (-u -ur) f girlfriend kaeligrasti (-a -ar) m boyfriend kaeligrlega adv kindly koumlttur (kattar kettir) m cat labba (labba labbaethi labbaeth) walk lag (-s -) n song laga (laga lagaethi lagaeth) acc brew fix

lagast get better lamb (-s -) n lamb lampi (-a -ar) m lamp land (-s -) n country land landbuacutenaethur (-ar) m agriculture landnaacutem (-s -) n settlement landshluti (-a -ar) m part of the country arealandslag (-s -) n landscape langur adj long (horizontally) langt siacuteethan a long time since lasinn adj under the weather ill latur adj lazy laug (-ar -ar) f hot spring laugardagur (-s -ar) m Saturday laus adj free not taken


lauslega adv loosely roughly lax (-(- -ar) m salmon laacutegvaxinn adj short (built) laacutena (laacutena laacutenaethi laacutenaeth) lend acc+dat laacuteta (laeligt leacutel leacutetu Iatieth) acc let behave laacutetast pass away leethur (-s -) n leather leggja (legg lay put lagethi lagt) acc leggja a sig take pains leggja af lose weight leggja til gen put to leggja fyrir acc put aside leggjast lay down leggjast aacute acc strike attack

leieth (-ar -ir) f route aethra leieth single (ticket) baacuteethar leiethir return aacute leiethinni on the way Ieiethinlegur adj dull umpleasant boringleiethsoumlgn (-ar -ir) f guidance leiethsoumlgu- guide maethur (-manns -menn) m leiga (-u) f rent leigja (leigi leigethi leigt) dat+acc rent leikur (-s -ir) m game match leika (leik leacutek leacuteku leikieth) play acc leika seacuter play leikari (-a -ar) m actor player leikfimi findecl gymnastics leikhuacutes (-s -) n theatre leikkona (-u -ur) f actress leiklist (-ar) f drama theatre leik-maethur (-manns -menn) m player leikrit (-s -) n play leikskoacuteli (-a -ar) m kindergarten leita (leita leitaethi leitaeth) look for aeth dat lenda (lendi lenti lent) iacute end up land in dat lengi adv long (of time)

lengjast (lengist lengdist lengst) intrans become longer lesa (les las laacutesu lesieth) acc read


lesa undir acc prepare study for leacutest (-ar -ir) f train leyfa (leyfi leyfethi leyfeth) allow permit dat+acc leyfi (-s -) n permission licence leaveleynd (-ar) f secrecy leyndard oacutemur r (-s -ar) m mystery leacutettur adj light (weight) leacutetta (leacutetti leacutetti leacutett) dat+acc lighten leacutettast (leacutettist leacutest) intrans become lighter lieth (-s -) n league team liggja (laacute laacutegu legieth) lie thornaeth liggur therersquos no ekkert a hurry listamaethur (-manns -menn) m artist listasafn (-s -) n art museum litur (-ar -ir) m colour liacutef (-s) n life liacuteflegur adj lively liacutefsvenjur fpl customs liacuteka (liacutekar liacutekaethi liacutekaeth) impdat like liacuteka velilla likedislike liacutekami (-a ar) m body liacuteklega adv probably likely

liacutena (-u -ur) f line liacuteta (lit leit litu liacutetieth) uacutet look (like) liacuteta um oumlxl look back litil1 (liacutetieth) n adj little liacutetri (-a -ar) m litre ljoacuteeth (-s -) n poem ljoacutemandi adjindecl wonderful ljoacutes (-s -) n light Ijoshaerethur adj fair-haired blondljoacutetur adj ugly ljuacuteffengur adj delicious ljuacutega (lyacuteg laug lugu logieth) dat (tell a) lie lofa (lofa lofaethi lofaeth) dat+acc promise loft (-s -) n air loft logn (-s) n windstill weatherloka (loka lokaethi lokaeth) close dat lopapeysa (-u -ur) f Icelandic jumperlosna (losna losnaethi losnaacuteeth) vieth acc lose get rid of luacutetherskur adj Lutheran lyf (-s -) n medicine


lyfsali (-a -ar) m pharmacist lyfsedill (-s -ar) m prescription lyfta (lyfti) to (-11 -ur) f lift lykt (-ar) f smell lyacuteethveldi (-s -) n republic lyacutesa (lyacutesi lyacutesti lyacutest) dat describe

lyacutesi (-s) n fish liver oil laeligkka (laeligkka laeligkkaethi Iakkkaeth) acc decrease lower laeligknir (-is -ar) m doctor GP laeligra (laeligri laeligrethi laeligrt) acc learn study laeligsa (laeligsi laeligsti laeligst) acc lock (the door) loumlgfraeethingur (-s -ar) m lawyer loumlgregla (-u) f police loumlgga (-u) f the cops loumlgreglustoumld police station (-var -var) f maethur (manns menn) m person man magi (-a -ar) m stomach belly magnaethur adj brilliant super mamma mum(my) (-u -ur) f margir adjpl many margs konar many kinds of mark (-s -) n goal markaethur market (-ar -ir) m mat (-s) n estimation assessment aeth thorniacutenu mati in your estimation opinionmatarskeieth (-ar -ar) f table spoon matsedill (-s -ar) m menu matur (-ar) m food meal maacutel (-s -) n matter problem case maacutela (maacutelaethi maacutelaeth) acc paint

maacutenuethur (-ar -ir) m month maacutenudagur Monday (-s -ar) m maacuteta (maacuteta maacutetaethi maacutetaeth) acc try on meeth prep + datacc with along medal prep + gen among meethan conj while meethfereth (-ar -ir) f treatment mega (maacute maacutetti maacutettu maacutett) may megrun (-ar) f diet meietha (meiethi meiddi meitt) hurt oneself sig


meira aeth segja whats more meirihluti (-a -ar) m majority menning (-ar) culture menntaskoacuteli (-a -ar) m grammar school menntun (-ar -ir) culture education merkur adj distinctive remarkablemerkisstaethur sight (-ar -ir) m metnaethur adj ambition metri (-a -ar) m metre mey (-jar -jar) f maid virgin meyr adj tender mi5ur adj centre middle miethaeth vieth compared to miethbaer (-jar -ir) m city centre town centremi51ungs- pref average miethnaeligtti (-s) n midnight miethvikudagur (-s -ar) m Wednesday mikil1 (mikieth much large n) adj important mikilvaeliggur adj important miljoacuten (-ar -ir) f million milli prep + gen between minjagripur (-s -ir) m souvenir minn poss my mine minni comp less smaller missa (missi missti misst) af dat miss miacutenuacuteta (-u -ur) f minute mjoacutelk (-ur) f milk mjoumlg adv very morgunmatur (-ar) m breakfast moacuteta (moacuteta moacutetaethi moacutetaeth) acc form mould moacutettaka (-u -ur) f reception muna (man mundi munaeth) acc remember dat remindmunnur (-s -ar) m mouth munu (mun mundi subj myndi) will muacutes (-ar myacutes) f mouse myacutekja (myacuteki myacutekti myacutekt) soften acc myndarlegur handsome adj myndbandstaeki (-s bull) n video recorder myndhoumlggvari (-a -ar) m sculptor myndlist (-ar) f visual arts maeligla (maeligli say speak


maeliglti maeliglt) measure take acc temperature maeligla meeth dat recommend maeligta (maeligti maeligtti maeligtt) appear turn updat meet moumlguleiki (-a -ar) m possibility nafn (-s -) n name nauethsynlegur necessary adj naacute (naelig naacuteethi naacuteeth) dat pass catch naacute iacute acc reach get naacutegranni (-a -ar) m neighbour naacutegrenni (-s) n neighbourhoodnaacutekvaeligmur adj precise naacutelaeliggt prep close to nearby+ dat naacutelgast (naacutelgast naacutelgaethist naacutelgast) acc approach naacutem (-s -) n studies naacutemskeieth course (-s -) n naacutettuacutera (-u) f nature naacutettuacuter(u)lega naturally of adv course nef (-s -) n nose nefnilega adv namely you seenei no neikvaeethur adj negative nema (nem naacutem naacutemu numieth) acc study settle

nema adv except ekki nema not unless only nem-andi (-anda -endur) m also nemi (-a -ar) m student nenna (nenni nennti nennt) dat feel like nes (-s -) n promontory nesti (-s -) n provisions meal box neyethar- pref emergency niethur (dat niethri) adv down niethurdreginn down depressed adj njoacuteta (nyacutet naut nutu notieth) enjoy gen njoacuteta siacuten use to full capacity come into ones own nokkrir mpl several noiethuiland northern Iceland (-s) m nota (nota notaethi notaeth) acc use


noacutegur adj enough nuacute interj well really nuacutemer (-s -) n number size nuacutena now presently nyacute- pref newly just nyacuter (nyacutett n) adj new nyacutebuacutei (-a immigrant to -ar) m Iceland nyacutelega adv lately naeligr adj closer

naeligrfoumlt npl underwear ofarlega adv high up in the forefrontofn (-s -ar) m heater radiator oven ofnaeligmi (-s) n allergy ofsa(lega) adv tremendously awfully oft oftast adv often og conj and og svo framvegis etcetera oliacutea (-u -ur) f oil opinn (opieth n) adj open opinber adj public opna (opna opnaethi open opnaeth) acc oreth (-s -) n word ostur (-s -ar) m cheese oacutebyggeth (-ar wilderness -ir) f uninhabited area oacutefaeligr adj impassable incapable oacutefriacutesk adj pregnant 6ge5slegur adj disgusting oacutehjaacutekvaeligmileg ur adj inevitable 6kuimugur adj strange unknown oacutelaacuten (-s) n misfortune oacutelikur adj dat unlike different from oacutemissandi adj indecl indispensable oacutenytur adj useless incompetent oacutesjalfraethur adj involutary unintentionaloacutesk (-ar -ir) f wish

oacuteska (oacuteska oacuteskaethi oacuteskaeth) wish dat + gen oacuteskaplega adv tremendously oacutettast (oacutettast oacutettaethist fear oacutettast) acc oacutevenjulegur adj unusual oacutevaentur adj unexpected


pabbi (-a -ar) m dad(dy) pakka (pakka pakkaethi pakkaeth) pack niethur dat pakkafereth (-ar -ir) f package trip pakki (-a -ar) m package panna (-u -ur) f pan panta (panta pantaethi pantaeth) acc book reserve pappiacuter (-s -ar) paper m passa (passa passaethi passaeth) acc suit fit passa sig watch out paacuteskar mpl Easter peningur (-s -ar) m money penni (-a -ar) m pen pest (-ar -ir) f epidemic rsquobugrsquopipar (-s) m pepper plast (-s -) n plastic plaacutestur (-s -ar) m band-aid plasterprenta (prenta print prentaethi prentaeth) acc

prestur (-s -ar) m minister pastor prjoacutena (prjoacutena prjoacutenaethi prjoacutenaeth) acc knit proacutef (-s -) n exam diploma proacutefa (proacutefa proacutefaethi proacutefaeth) acc try (out) test punktur (-s -ar) m point dot pylsa (-u -ur) f hot dog wiener poumlntun (-ar ir) f reservation order poumlnnukaka (-u -ur) f pancake rafmagn (-s) n electricity raka (raka rakaethi rakaeth) sig shave rass (- -ar) m bottom behind rauethroacutefa (-u -ur) f beet rauethur (rautt n) adj red raunar adv as a matter of fact indeedraunverulegur adj realistic raacuteethherra (- -r) m minister raacuteethhuacutes (-s -) n town hall raacuteethleggja (raacuteethlegg raacuteethlagethi raacuteethlagt) dat+acc advise raacutes (-ar -ar) f channel redda (redda reddaethi reddaeth) dat work out fix

reiethur adj angry reikningur (-s ar) m bill reisa (reisi reisti reist) acc raise build reka (rek rak raacuteku rekieth) acc run strike


renna (renn rann runni runnieth) turn (let) flow glide reykja (reyki reykti reykt) acc smoke reyna (reyni reyndi reynt) acc try reynast turn out to be prove to be reyndar adv in fact as a matter of fact reacutett aacuteethan adv just now reacutettur adj right correct reacutett adv just right reacutetta (reacutetti reacutetti reacutett) dat + acc hand reacutettindi npl rights licence reacutettur (-ar -ir) m dish rigna (rignir rigndi rignt) rain rigning (-ar) f rain ristaeth braueth n ritari (-a -ar) m toast secretary ritfoumlng npl writing materials stationeryrithoumlfundur (-ar -ar) m novelist author

riacuteetha (riacuteeth reieth riethu riethieth) ride a horse rjoacutemi (-a -ar) m cream roacutes (-ar -ir) f rose ruacutem (-s -) n bed ruacuteta (-u -ur) f coach ryksuga (-u -ur) f hoover vacuum (ryksuga ryksugaethi ryksugaeth) ryacuter adj sparse scanty raeligetha (-u -ur) f speech raeligetha (raeligethi raeligddi raeligtt) acc discuss raeligkta (raeligkta raeligktaethi raeligktaeth) acc grow cultivate raeligkt (-ar) f cultivation roumleth (-ar -ir) f row order series roumlkkur (-s) n twilight saddur adj full eaten onersquos fill safi (-a -ar) m juice safn (-s -) n museum collection saga (-u -ur) f history story sakna (sakna saknaethi saknaeth) gen miss saman adv together samband (-s -) n contact connection relationshipsameiginlegur adj common shared samfeacutelag (-s -) n society samgoumlngur fpl transport between

samkoma (-u -ur) f places communications gatheringsamloka (-u -ur) f sandwich sammaacutela adjindecl + dat agreed agree with samt adv nevertheless still yet samtal (-s -) n dialogue conversation


sandur (-s -ar) m sand sandy desert sannur (satt n) adj true sannarlega adv truly definitely saxa (saxa saxaethi saxaeth) acc chop saacutel (-ar -ir) f soul salfraeethingur (-s -ar) m psychologist saacutepa (-u -ur) f soap saacuter (-s -) n wound saacuterabindi (-s -) n gauze segja (segi sagethi sagt) dat+acc say tell hvaeth segirethu 1 how are you 2 really is that so segja fraacute dat relate tell of seinn adj late seinni partinn in the afternoon seinkaethur adj delayed selja (sel seldi selt) acc sell

sem conj which that as sem betur fer fortunately semja (sem samdi samieth) acc compose write senda (sendi sendi sent) dat+acc send sendiraacuteeth (-s -) n embassy sennilega adv probably setja (set setti sett) acc put setja a sig setjast put on sit down seacuteseacuteu pres subj vera be seacuter- pref special particularly seacuterstakur adj seacuterstaeligethur adj special unusual siethur (-ar -ir) m custom sigling (-ar -ar) f sailing (trip) silungur (-s -ar) m trout sinna (sinni sinnti sinnt) dat attend to sinnep (-s) n sitja (sit sat saacutetu setieth) mustard sit siacute- pref ever siacuteethan adv since then siacuteethastur adj last siacuteethdegis in the afternoon siacutefelld adv constantly siacutemi (-a -ar) m telephone siacutemsvari (-a -ar) m answering machine siacutemtal (-s -) n telephone conversationsiacuteroacutep (-s) n syrup

sjaldan adv seldom sjaacute (seacute saacute saacuteu seacuteeth) acc see sjaacute um acc look after take care of sjaacute eftir dat regret


sjalfur sjaacutelfsagt (aeth sjaacutelfsoumlgethu) (one)self of course naturally sjaacutelfstaeligethur adj independent sjaacutevaruacutetvegur (-s) m fishing industry sjoacuter (sjaacutevar -ir) m sea vera a sjoacute be at sea (as a fisherman) sjoacuteetha (syacuteeth saueth suethu soethieth) acc boil sjoacute-maethur (-manns -menn) m fisherman sjoacutenvarp (-s -) n television sjuacutekur adj vera sjuacutekur iacute (coll) acc ill be crazy about sjuacutekrahuacutes (-s -) n hospital skammdegi (-s) n short days of winter midwinterskammtur (-s -ar) m portion skartgripur (-s -ir) m piece of jewellery skaacutel (-ar -ar) f bowl toast skaacutel cheers skaacuteli (-a -ar) m lodge cabin skaacuteld (-s -) n poet skaacuteldsaga (-u -ur) f novel

skaacutepur (-s -ar) m cupboard skegg (-s -) n beard skeieth (-ar -ar) f spoon skella (skell skellti skellt) a acc slam crash skemmta (skemmti skemmti skemmt) seacuter have fun have a good timeskemmtilegur adj enjoyable fun skera (sker skar skaacuteru skorieth) acc cut skila (skila skilaethi skilaeth) dat pass on give back hand inskilja (skil skildi skilieth) acc separate understand skilja eftir acc leave behind skip (-s -) n ship skipta (skipti skipti skipt) dat change exchange skiptimiethi (-a -ar) m transfer ticket skipulagethur adj skiacuteethi (-s -) n fara a skiacuteethum v organized ski ski skiacutena (skiacuten skein skinu skinieth) shine skiacuterethur adj christened skiacutetugur adj dirty skjal (-s -) n file document skjoacutetast (skjoacutett) adv quickly sko interj look you see skoetha (skoetha skoethaethi skoethaeth) acc (havetake a) look at skoethun (-ar -ir) f examination check-up skokka (skokka skokkaethi skokkaeth) jog skoacuter (-s -r) m shoe skoacutegur (-ar -ar) m forest skoacuteli (-a -ar) m school skraacute (skraacutei skraacuteethi skraacuteeth) acc register record


skreppa (skrepp skrapp skruppu skroppieth) pop out skrifa (skrifa skrifaethi skrifaeth) dat + acc write skrifstofa (-u -ur) f office skriacuteetha (skriacuteeth skreieth skriethu skriethieth) crawl skulu (skal subj skyldi) vieth skulum hellip shall lets hellip skynsamlega adv wisely sensibly skyr (-s) n skyacutejaeth adj skyacutera (skyacuteri skyacuterethi skyacutert) milk curds cloudy explainskyacutera fraacute dat give an account of skyacutersla (-u -ur) f report statement skaeligri npl scissors

skoumlpun (-ar) f creation creativity slaka (slaka slakaethi slakaeth) a relax unwind slappur adj weak without energy slappa (slappa slappaethi slappaeth) af relax sleppa (sleppi sleppti sleppt) dat leave undone let pass let gosleacutettur adj smooth flat straight (hair) sloacuteeth (-ar -ir) f trail area slys (-s -) n accident slaeligmur adj bad sloumlkkva (slekk sloumlkkti sloumlkkt) a turn off extinguish smakka (smakka smakkaethi smakkaeth) acc taste smaacuter adj smaacutett og smaacutett small little by little smaacutemynt (-ar -ir) f change smaacutestund (-ar -ir) f a while smekklegur adj tasteful smjoumlr (-s) n butter smjoumlrliacuteki (-s) n margarine snarl (-s) n snack snemma adv early snjoacuter (-s -ar) m snow snjoacutea (snjoacutear snjoacuteaethi snjoacuteaeth) snow snuacutea (snyacute sneacuteri snuacuteieth) dat snuacutea seacuter aeth dat turn turn to

snyrtilegur adj neat smart snyrting (-ar -ar) f toilet washroom svaacutefu sofieth) sleep sofna (sofna sofnaethi sofnaeth) intrans fall asleep sonur (-ar synir) m son sorg (-ar -ir) f sorrow grief sorp (-s -) n rubbish garbage soacutefi (-a -ar) m sofa couch soacutel (-ar) f sun soacutelarhringur (-s) m 24 hours around the clocksoacutelbaeth (-s -) n sunbath soacutesa (-u -ur) f sauce gravy soacutetthreinsandi adj indecl disinfectant


spari- pref dress sparifoumlt npl dressing-up clothes sparsamur adj economical thrifty spaacute (-ar -r) f forecast spegill (-s -ar) m mirror spenna (-u -ur) f tension clasp spennandi adjindecl exciting spenntur adj keen excited spila (spila spilaethi spilaeth) acc play spjald (-s -) n card sign book of ticketsspjall (-s -) n chat

spjalla (spjalla spjallaethi spjallaeth) chat spurning (-ar -ar) f question spyrja (spyr spurethi spurt) acc ask staethur (-ar -ir) m place faraIeggja af staeth depart iacute staethinn instead eiga seacuter staeth take place staethgreietha (-greiethi) acc pay cash stafur (-s -ir) m letter standa (stend stoacuteeth stoacuteethu staethieth) stand thornaeth stendur it says sem stendur as it is right now standa til happen be in the works plannedstarf (-s -) n job employment starfsfoacutelk (-s) n employees starfsemi findecl activity work stefnumoacutet (-s -) n appointment steikja (steiki steikti steikt) acc fry steinn (-s -ar) m stone sterkur adj strong stig (-s -) n level degree stinga (sting stakk stungu stungieth) upp aacute dat suggest

stiacutella (stiacutefla stiacuteflaethi stiacutellaeth) acc plug (in) stigi (-a -ar) m stairs staircase stil1 (-s -ar) m style stjuacutepi (-a -ar) m from stepfather stjuacutepfaethir stofa (-u -ur) f living room stofnaethur adj founded stofnun (-ar -ir) f foundation institutionstoppa (stoppa stoppaethi stoppaeth) stop stoll (-s -ar) m chair stoacuter (stoacuter adj f) big large stoacuterborg (-ar -ir) f metropolis


stoacuterbrotinn adj magnificent straumur (-s -ar) m current stream strax adv immediately streita (-u) f stress strjalbyll adj sparsely populated straeligtisvagn (-s -ar straeligtoacute) m city bus stroumlnd (strandar strendur) f coast beach stuethla (stuethla stuethlaethi stuethlaeth) aeth dat help towards assist stunda (stunda stundaethi stundaeth) acc pursue practise sturta (-u -ur) f shower stuacutelka (-u -ur) f girl young woman styethja (styeth st udd iacute stutt) acc support styethja vieth base on rely on stytta (stytti stytti stytt) acc shorten styacuteri (-s -) n steering wheel stoumlethugur adj steady continuous stoumlethugt adv continually stoumlkkva (stekk stoumlkk stukku stokkieth) jump sulta (-u -ur) f jam sumar (-s -) n summer sumir mpl some sund (-s) n swimming fara iacute sund (go) swimming sundlaug (-ar -ar) f swimming pool sunnudagur (-s -ar) m Sunday suacutekkulaethi (-s) n chocolate suacutepa (-u -ur) f soup svakalega adv terribly tremendouslysvangur adj hungry svara (svara svaraethi svaraeth) dat answer svartur (svoumlrt f svart n) adj black svefnherbergi (-s -) n bedroom svefnpoki (-a -ar) m sleeping bag sveigja (sveigi sveigethi sveigt) acc bend turn sveit (-ar -ir) f countryside svipstund (-ar -ir) f instant

sviacuten (-s -) n Pig Sviacutethornjoacuteeth (-ar) f Sweden svo(na) adv thus so such like that svoliacutetieth a little svaeligethi (-s -) n area sykur (-s) m sugar synda (syndi synti syacutent) swim syngja (syng soumlng sungu sungieth) acc sing systir (-ur -ur) f sister


systkini npl siblings syacutena (syacuteni syacutendi syacutent) dat+acc show syacutening (-ar -ar) f show saeligkja (saeligki soacutetti soacutett) acc pick up collect saeligmilega adv fairly well reasonably saeligng (-ar -ur) f duvet saelignskur adj Swedish saeligra (saeligri-saeligrethi-saeligrt) acc hurt wound saeligtur adj sweet cute saeligti (-s -) n seat solu-maethur (-manns -menn) m sales person soumlluturn (-s -ar) m kiosk that also sells snacks ice cream etc soumlmuleiethis likewise soumlngvari (-a -ar) m soumlngkona (-u -ur) f singer tafla(-u -ur) f tablet pill board

tagl (-s -) n ponytail horsetail taka (tek toacutek toacuteku tekieth) acc take taka til clean up takast imp succeed takast aacute vieth struggle takk (fyrir) thanks tala (tala talaethi talaeth) acc talk speak tannlaeligknir (-is -ar) m dentist taska (-11 -ur) f bag case taacute (-ar taeligr) f toe te (-s -) n tea teikna (teikna teiknaethi teiknaeth) acc draw telja (tel taldi talieth) acc count consider tengja (tengi tengdi tengt) acc connect tengjast dat be connected related toteppi (-s -) n carpet blanket teskeieth (-ar -ar) f teaspoon texti (-a -ar) m text til(buacuteinn) adj ready set prepared til prep+ gen to til daeligmis (td) for example tilboeth (-s -) n offer tilbreyting (-ar -ar) f change tilefni (-s -) n occasion tilkynna (tilkynni tilkynnti tilkynnt) acc announce

tilvera (-u) f existence tiacutemi (-a -ar) m time class tiacutemabil (-s -) n period tjald (-s -) tent tjalda (tjalda tjaldaethi tjaldaeth) camp (in tent)


togari (-a -ar) m trawler toacutemur adj empty toacutenleikar (-a) mpl concert toacutenlist (-ar) f music traustur adj reliable solid trefil1 (-s -ar) m woollen scarf treacute (-s -) n tree wood treacutesmiethur (-s ir) m carpenter truacute (-ar -ir) f faith belief truacutea (truacutei truacuteethi truacuteaeth) dat aacute acc believe (in) tryggingarfeacutelag insurance (-s -) n company tunga (-u -ur) f tongue tungumaacutel (-s -) n language turn (-s -ar) m tower tuacuten (-s -) n (hay)field tveir (tvaeligr f tvouml n) two tyacutena (tyacuteni tyacutendi tyacutent) dat lose taeligki (-s -) n appliance taeligkifaeligri (-s -) n opportunity taeligplega adv barely not quitetoumllva (-u -ur) f computer toumlnn (tannar tennur) f tooth

ull (-ar) f wool um prep+acc about around um thornaeth bil (uthornb) around umfereth (-ar -ir) f traffic umhverfis surrounding prep+acc umraeligetha (-u -ur) f discussion umsoacuteknar- admissions maethur (-manns -menn) m person undan prep + dat from under undir under prep+datacc undirlendi (-s) n lowland ungur adj young upp (dat uppi) up adv uppaacutehalds- pref favourite upphaflega adv initially upphaeligeth (-ar -ir) f sum upplyacutesing (-ar -ar) f information upplyacutesingamieth- tourist stoumleth (-svar) f information centre


uppskurethur (-ar -ir) m operation upptekinn adj busy utan prep+gen outside of uacutelpa (-u -ur) f parka winter coatuacuter (-s -) n watch uacuter prep+dat out (of) uacuterkoma (-u) f precipitation uacutetflutningur (-s -ar) m export

uacutetgerethar-maethur (fishing) (-manns -menn) m shipowner uacutetgjoumlld npl costs expenses uacuteti adv outside outdoors uacutetilega (-u) f camping uacutetivist (-ar) f outdoors (ie hiking camping etc) activitiesuacutetlendingur (-s -ar) m foreigner uacutetlit (-s -) n outlook uacutetloumlnd npl abroad uacutetraacutes (-ar -ir) f vent release uacutetsending (-ar -ar) f broadcast uacutetsyacuteni (-s -) n view uacutetvarp (-s -) n radio (broadcast) vaetha (veeth oacuteeth oacuteethu vaethieth) wade ford vaeligntanlegur adj expected due

v afamaacutel (-s -) n

matter of doubt

vaka (vaki vakti vakaeth) bestay awake keep watch vakna (vakna vaknaethi vaknaeth) wake up intrans valda (veld olli ollu valdieth) cause dat vandi (-a -ar) m problem vanta (vanta vantaethi vantaeth) lack need want impers acc

vara- pref

spare extra

varla adv hardly varlega adv carefully vasi (-a -ar) m pocket vasaljoacutes (-s -) n flash light torch vaska (vaska vaskaethi vaskaeth) upp do the dishes vatn (-s -) n water lake veethraacutetta (-u) f climate veethur (-s def veethrid) n weather vegur (-ar-s -ir) m road vegakort (-s -) n road map


veggur (-jar -ir) m wall vegna prep due to because + gen of veietha (veiethi veiddi veitt) hunt fish acc veikur adj sick weak veikleiki (-a -ar) m weakness veisla (-u -ur) f party feast veita (veiti veitti veitt) accdat give grant offer veitingastaethur (-ar -ir) m restaurant veitingasalur (-ar -ir) m restaurant vekja (vek vakti vakt) wake (someone) upacc vel adv well veacutel (-ar -ar) f machine engine velgengni success findecl prosperity

velja (vel valdi valid) acc choose velkominn adj welcome velliacuteethan (-ar) f well-being venja (-u -ur) f habit venjast (venst get used to vandist vanist) dat vera (er var voru verieth) be mikieth um aeth a lot going on vera vera eftir be left vera meeth acc carry have (on you) vera til exist vera aeth be the matter wrong vera mikieth like a lot fyrir acc vera aacutefram continue to be vera iacute dat wear vereth (-s -) n price veretha (vereth vareth urethu orethieth) become will be veretha aeth must have to verethlaun npl prize verja (ver varethi varieth) dat use spend protect acc defendverk (-s -) n work verkur (-jar -ir) m pain verkefni task project (-s -) n assignment verkfall (-s -) n strike verkjatafla painkiller


(-u -ur) f verkstaeligethi workshop (-s -) n vesalings adv poor

verslun (-ar -ir) f shop trade versna (versna versnaethi versnaeth) imp get worse verstur adjsuperl worst awful vesen (-s) n bother fuss trouble veski (-s -) n wallet purse vetrarsvefn (-s) n winter sleep vettlingur (-s -ar) m mitten vet-ur (-rar -ur) m winter vieth prep + acc pron at up against we viethskiptafeacutelagi business (-a -ar) m associate viethskipti npl business eiga viethskipti vieth acc do business have dealings withviethurkenna admit (viethurkenni viethurkenndi viethurkennt) acc vika (-11 -ur) f week vikudagur (-s -ar) m weekday vinur (-ar -ir) m vinkona (-u -ur) f friend vindur (-s -ar) m wind vinna (vinn vann unnu unnieth) acc work win vinningur (-s -ar) m prize winnings vinnsla (-u) f (fish) processing

vinnufeacutelagi (-a -ar) m colleague vinnustofa (-u -ur) f work room studio workshop vinsaell adj popular vinsaeligldir fpl popularity vinstri left virethast (virethist virtist virst) seem virethingarfyllst adjsuperl respectfully virkur adj active functioning virkur dagur work day virkilegur adj real true virkja (virkja virkjaethi virkjaeth) acc utilize (hydro-electric geothermal power) viss adj sure certain viacutest surely vita (veit vissi vissu vitieth) know acc vitleysa (-u) f foolishness nonsense viacuteetha adv widely viacutek (-ur -ur) f small bay inlet viacuten (-s -) n spirits liquor


volgur adj lukewarm vona (vona vonaethi vonaeth) acc hope vondur (vont n) adj bad vor (-s -) n spring voumlfflur fpl waffles voumlr (-ar -ir) f lip voumlxtur (-ar -ir) m growth yfir over prep + datacc

yfirbrageth (-s -) n flavour yfirleitt adv generally yndislegur adj delightful lovelyyngstur youngest adjsuperl yacutemsir mpl various yacutesa (-u -ur) f haddock thornaeth pron it thornaeth ereru there isare thornaethan adv from there thornak (-s -) n roof thornakka (thornakka thornakkaethi thornakkaeth) thank dat+acc thornangaeth adv to there (thither)thornangaeth til until thornannig aeth so that thornar dem there thornar sem conj where as thornar a meethal among them thornar aeth auki besides conj moreover thornarna dem there thornau pron they (n) thornaacutett-takandi (-a participant -tekendur) m thornaacutettur (-ar thornaeligttir) m part show taka thorn aacutett iacute take part in thornegar adv when thornegja (thornegi thornagethi thornagaeth) be quiet thorneir pron they (m) thornekja (thornek thornakti thornakieth) cover dat thornekkja (thornekki know thornekkti thornekkt) acc thorness vegna therefore thornessi (n thornetta) dem this


thornieth pron you (pl) thornjoacuteeth (-ar -ir) f people nationthornjoacuteeth(ar)- pref national thornjoacuteethsaga (-u -ur) f folk tale

p joacuteethvegur (-ar -ir) m

main road

thornjoacuteethverji (-a -ar) m German

P joacutenusta (-u) f

service

thornjoacutena (pjoacutena serve pjoacutenaethi

p joacutenaeth) dat

thornola (thornoli thornoldi bear endurethornolaeth) acc stand thornora (thornori thornorethi poraeth) acc dare risk thornorna (thornorna pornaethui pornaeth (get) dry intrans thornorskur (-s -ar) m cod thornoacute (aeth) (also (al)though

poacute tt) conj

thornriethjudagur Tuesday (-s -ar) m thornriacutefa (thornriacutef thornreif thornrifum thornrifieth) acc grab clean thornriacuter (thornrjaacuter f thornrjuacute n) three thornroacuteun (-ar -ir) f development thornroumlngur adj narrow thornungur adj heavy thornurfa (thornarf thornurfti thornurft) aeth need to

thornurr adj dry thornuacute pron you thornuacutesund (-s -) n thousand thornviacute miethur unfortunately thornvo (thornvaelig thornvoethi wash pvegieth) acc thornvo seacuter wash oneself thornvottur (-s -ar) m laundry thornybbinn adj chubby stout thornykja (thornykir thornoacutetti poacutett) think find imp thornykkur adj thick thornyacuteetha (thornyacuteethi thornyacuteddi thornyacutett) mean translate acc


thornaeliggilegur adj comfortable thornaeligr pron they (f) thornoumlkk (-ar -ir) f thanks

po rf (-ar -ir) f

need

aeligfa (aeligfi aeligfethi aeligft) sig iacute dat practise (oneself) inaeligfing (-ar -ar) f exercise training aeligtla (aeligtla aeligtlaethi aeligtlaeth) intendplan to acc

aeligtt (-ar -ir) f family lineage kin aeligttarnafn (-s -) n family name aeligttingi (-jaacute -jar) m relative oumlethruviacutesi adj indecl different

ouml flugur adj

strong powerful

ouml kkli (-a -ar) m

ankle

oumlld (-ar -ir) f century oumlldum saman for centuries on end oumlmurlega adv miserably wretchedlyoumlnn (-ar -ir) f work term vera oumlnnum kafinn be very busy

ouml r (-s -) n

scar

adj rapid fast pref very oumlrbylgjuofn (-s -ar) m microwave

ouml ruggur (meeth sig) adj

sure (of oneself)

oumlrugglega adv surely certainly


English-lcelandic glossary about um abroad erlendis accident slys accommodation gisting huacutesnaeligethi acquaintance kunningi address heimilisfang aeroplane flugveacutel after (aacute) eftir afternoon (eftir) haacutedegi seinni partinn airport flugvoumlllur flugstoumleth (terminal)all right allt iacute lagi all allur allow laacuteta leyfa alone einn also liacuteka einnig always alltaf among meethal and og answer svara n svar v appear koma iacute ljoacutes apple epli appointment stefnumoacutet area svaeligethi arm handleggur around um (iacute) kring(um) um thornaeth bilarrive koma (til) art list as sem

as hellip as eins hellip og ask spyrja asleep sofnaethur fall asleep sofna aspirin verkjatatta assist aethstoetha at vieth Australian adj aacutestralskur author (rit)houmlfundur autumn haust awake vakandi bestay awake vaka

back aftur til baka adv bak nbackpack bakpoki baeth vondur slaeligmur bag poki taska bake baka banana banani bank banki bath baeth bathroom baethherbergi beard skegg beautiful fallegur because (af) thornviacute aeth vegna thorness aeth become veretha bed ruacutem bedroom svefnherbergi beer bjoacuter before fyrr en aacuteethur (en) aacuteethan begin byrja fara aeth believe truacutea beside hjaacute between (aacute) milli big stoacuter mikill bike hjoacutel bill reikningur birthday afmaeligli my birthday ishellip eacuteg a afmaeliglihellip biscuit smaacutekaka kex black svartur blond ljoacuteshaeligrethur blood bloacuteeth blue blaacuter body liacutekami boil sjoacuteetha book boacutek bookshop boacutekabuacuteeth book boacuteka panta booking poumlntun boring Ieiethinlegur born faeligddur (be) born faeligethast bottle flaska boy straacutekur piltur drengurboyfriend kaeligrasti bread braueth break brjoacuteta

English-icelandic glossary 311

break down bila breakfast morgunmatur bright bjartur (colour) skaeligr bring koma meeth faeligra brother broacuteethir brown bruacutenn build byggja building bygging bus straeligtisvagn (straeligtoacute) business fyrirtaeligki (firm)

viethskipti (dealings) busy upptekinn butter smjoumlr cafe kaffihuacutes cake kaka call kalla be called heita can geta (+pp) kunna vera haeliggt mega can you tell mehellip geturethu

sagt meacuterhellip candle kerti capital houmlfuethborg car biacutell cash staethgreitt cat koumlttur centre mieth- miethur adj miethja n century in the hellip century

old ahellipold

chair stoacutell champagne kampaviacuten chance kostur change breyta(st) skipta v tilbreyting n chat spjall n spjalla v cheap oacutedyacuter check athuga cheers skaacutel cheese ostur cheque aacuteviacutesun teacutekki child barn chips franskar (kartoumlflur)

chocolate suacutekkulaethi choose velja Christmas joacutel


church kirkja cinema biacuteoacute city borg city centre miethbaeligr climate veethraacutetta close loka v naacutelaeliggur adj close by naacutelaeliggt clothing foumlt cloud sky cloudy skyacutejaeth coach ruacuteta coast stioumlnd coat frakki m kaacutepa f uacutelpa (winter coat)coffee kaffi cold kaldur colleague vinnufeacutelagi colour litur come koma comfortable thornaeliggilegur company fyrirtseki computer toumllva concert toacutenleikar congratulations til hamingju connection samband connection samband n hafa samband vieth v

continue halda aacutefram conversation samtal cook elda v kokkur n cool svalur (temp) cost kosta count telja country land countryside sveit

course naacutemskeieth cream rjoacutemi krem credit card greiethslukort visa kriacutetarkort crowd fjoumlldi culture menning cup bolli cupboard skaacutepur curly krullaeth custom (liacutefs)venja siacuteethur cut skera cycle hjoacutela daily daglega


dance dansa v dans dansleikur n dark doumlkkur (colour) dimmur (light) doumlkkhaeligrethur (hair)date dagsetning maacutenaethardagur daughter doacutellir day dagur dear kaeligr degree (hita)stig delicious ljuacuteffengur dentist tannlaeligknir depart leggja af staeth departure brottfoumlr different oumlethruviacutesi differing mismunandi difficult erfiethur diligent duglegur dirty skiacutetugur discuss raeligetha dish reacutettur diverse fjoumllbreyttur do gera doctor laeligknir dog hundur door hureth dyacuter

down niethur (motion) niethri (static) draw teikna dream draumur n dreyma (imp v) dress kjoacutell n klaeligetha v get dressed klaeligetha sig be dressed in vera iacutedrink drykkur n drekka v drive keyra aka driver biacutelstjoacuteri vagnstjoacuteri dry thornurr ear eyra early snemma east austur fyrir austan easy auethveldur eat boretha education menntun electricity rafmagn elegant fiacutenn glaeligsilegur emergency neyethar- neyethartilfelli empty toacutemur enjoy oneself skemmta seacuter enjoyable skemmtilegur enough noacutegur


even jafnvel adv jafn adj every hver everyday a hverjum degi daglegur example daeligmi for example til daeligmis excuse me fyrirgefethu afsakieth

exercise aeligfing n hreyfa sig v exhibition syacutening expect buacuteast vieth expensive dyacuter explain (uacutet)skyacutera extra auka face andlit fall detta family fjoumllskylda famous fraeliggur fancy fiacutenn flottur far langt (iacute burtu) fare fargjald farm boacutendabaeligr fast fljoacutetur adj fljoacutett adv fat feitur father pabbi faethir favourite uppaacutehalds- feel finna (til) finnast (imp) Iiacuteetha (imp) fill out fylla uacutel find to be found finna(st imp) maacute finna fine aacutegaeligtur aacutegaeligtlega finger fingur finish klaacutera first fyrst fyrstur fish veietha fiska (commercially) v fiskur nfix laga gera vieth flash light vasaljoacutes flat iacutebuacuteeth flight flug floor goacutelf haeligeth (storey) flower bloacutem fly fljuacutega

food matur football (soccer) knattspyrna foacutetbolti for fyrir handa foreign erlendur uacutetlenskur foreigner uacutetlendingur forest skoacutegur forget gleyma


free frjaacutels laus fridge iacutesskaacutepui friend vinur (m) vinkona (f) friendly indaeligll from fraacute fruit aacutevoumlxtur fun gaman skemmtilegur game leikur garbage sorp rusl garden garethur generally yfirlcitt almennt get faacute get up tara a faeligtur girl stelpa stuacutelka girlfriend kaeligrasta glass glas gler (material) glasses gleraugu go fara going on um aeth vera it goes well thornaeth gengur vel get going koma seacuter af staeth go ahead gjoumlrethu svo vel good goacuteethur good morning goacuteethan afternoon dag(inn) goodbye vertu blessaethur (m)blessueth (f)

say goodbye kveethja grandfather afi grandmother amma green graelignn greet heilsa grey graacuter guest gestur be my guest gjoumlrethu svo vel guest house gistihuacutes guide leiethsoumlgn leiethsoumlgu-maethur guided tour fereth meeth leiethsoumlgn guidebook leiethsoumlgu-handboacutek hair haacuter hand houmlnd on the other hand hins vegar reacutetta vhang hanga hang up hengja happen gerast koma fyrir happy aacutenaeliggethur hardly varla hat hattur huacuteta


(woollen) have eiga hafa vera meeth have to eiga aeth veretha aeth he hann head houmlfueth headache houmlfuethverkur health heilsa healthy heilbrigethur hollur hear heyara heavy thornungur

hello (komdu) saeligll (m) saeligl (f) help hjaacutelpa v hjaacutelp n here heacuter(na) hingaeth (motion to) heacuteethan (motion from) here you are gjoumlrethu svo vel high haacuter hike ganga hiking hellip goumlngu- historic soumlgu- soumlgulegur hobby aacutehugamaacutel holiday haacutetiacuteeth friacutedagur holidays friacute home heimili n heim adv at home heima hope vona v von n horse hestur hross (horse)riding fara aacute hestbak hospital sjuacutekrahuacutes hour (klukku)tiacutemi house huacutes how hvernig howhellip (adj) hvaeth hellip howhellip en hellip how are you hvaeth segirethu

gott hundred hundraeth hungry svangur hunt veietha hurry up flyacuteta seacuter driacutefa sig hurt finna til iacute vera saacutert meietha sig husband (eigin)maethur I eacuteg ice-cream iacutes

Iceland Iacutesland Icelandic iacuteslenskur Icelander Iacuteslendingur immediately strax important mikilvaeliggur


in(to) iacute included innifalinn information upplyacutesingar (pl) inhabitant iacutebuacutei inside inn (motion) inni (static) instead iacute staethinn instrument verkfaeligri hljoacuteethfaeligri (musical)intend to aeligtla aeth interest aacutehugi I am eacuteg hef aacutehuga interested in aacute introduce kynna introduction kynning Irish adj iacuterskur island ey eyja it thornaeth jacket jakki job starf atvinna journey fereth ferethalag juice safi jumper peysa just bara kaffi coffee keep geyma kilogram kfloacute(gramm) kilometre kiacuteloacutemetri kindly kaeligrlega kitchen eldhuacutes knife hniacutetur know vita thornekkja kunna lake vatn lamb lamb lambakjoumlt lamp lampi

landscape landslag large stoacuter last late

siacuteethasti siacuteethastur seinn framorethieth later seinna

laugh hlaeligja law loumlg loumlgfraeligethi (study) lay leggja lay down leggjast learn laeligra least siacutest minnst at least aeth minnsta kosti leave faraleggja af staeth


left (til) vinstri let laacuteta let go sleppa letter brethf stafur (alphabet) lie liggja life liacutef lift far (ride) lyfta (elevator) light bjartur ljoacutes (colour) leacutettur (weight) light ljoacutes n kveikja v like conj sem eins og adj liacutekur like v liacuteka vel vieth (imp) would like langa iacute (imp) aeligtla aeth faacutelikewise soumlmuleiethis listen (to) hlusta (aacute) litre liacutetri little liacutetill a little (bit) svoliacutetieth

live lifa (be alive) buacutea (reside) lively liacuteflegur living room stofa lock laeligsa long adj langur (hor) siacuteethur (vert) adv lengi (time) langt (distance) long time ago langt siacuteethan fyrir loumlngu look (havetake ahellip) at skoetha look forward hlakka til to look after sjaacute um lose tyacutena love elska v aacutest n lovely indaeligll yndislegur lunch haacutedegismatur magnificent glaeligsilegur stoacuterbrotinn (land) main aethal- make gera framleietha many margir map kort marriage hjoacutenaband get married giftast gifta sig married giftur marry gifta material efni may mega


mean pyacuteetha meina meat kjoumlt medicine lyf meet hitta meeting fundur

menu matseethill milk mjoacutelk minute miacutenuacuteta moment andartak augnablik money peningar month maacutenuethur morning morgunn mother mamma moacuteethir mountain fjall moustache yfirskegg mouth munnur move faeligra (transp) hreyfa sig flytja (house) much mikill (mikieth n) museum safn music toacutenlist must veretha aeth hljoacuteta aeth name nafn n my name is eacuteg heiti narrow thornroumlngur nation thornjoacuteeth (people) riacuteki national thornjoacuteeth(ar)- nature naacutettuacutera nearby naacutelaeliggt neccesary nauethsynlegur need thornurfa vanta (imp) neither (ekki) heldur neitherhellipnor hvorkihellipneacute nevertheless samt eigi aeth siacuteethur New Year nyacuteaacutersdagur aacuteramoacutet new nyacuter whats new with you hvaeth er aeth freacutetta(af thorneacuter)

news freacutett freacutettir no nei enginn (ekkert n indpron)noon haacutedegi north norethur fyrir norethan not ekki nothing ekkert novel skaacuteldsaga now nuacutena nowhere hvergi number nuacutemer nurse hjuacutekrunar-fraeligethingur


of course auethvitaeth sjaacutelfsagt off af offer bjoacuteetha on offer iacute boethi office skrifstofa often oft(ast) okay allt iacute lagi old gamall once einu sinni one einn (number) maethur imp only bara aetheins open opna v opinn adj opportunity taeligkifaeligri opposite a moacuteti or eetha orange appeiacutesina outdoors uacutetivist outside uacuteti fyrir utan over yfir pack pakka niethur package pakki pain verkur piacutena paper pappiacuter blaeth park (skrueth)garethur

parliament thorning (Icelandic) althorningi parliament part hluti party veisla past framhjaacute pay borga greietha payment greiethsla pen penni pencil blyacuteantur people folk menn perhaps kannski ef til vill (etv) permit leyfi person maethur pharmacy apoacutetek picture mynd kvikmynd (film) ljoacutesmynd (photo)take a picture taka mynd piece stykki pill tafla plan aeligtla v aacuteaeligtlun n plaster plaacutestur plate diskur


play leika seacuter spila v leikrit n pleasant skemmtilegur goacuteethur pocket vasi poem ljoacuteeth poet skaacuteld police loumlgregla loumlgga popular vinsaeligll possibility moumlguleiki possible haeliggt post poacutestur n setja iacute poacutest v postcard poacutestkort post office poacutesthuacutes practise aeligfa (sig iacute) preferably helst pregnant oacutefriacutesk prepare buacutea til (make) lesa undir (study) undirbuacuteaprescription lyfseethill present gjoumlf president forseti previous fyrri previously (aacuteethur) fyrr price vereth print prenta probably liacuteklega sennilega programme dagskraacute thornaacutettur efni project verkefni promise lofa public opinber adj almenningur n put setja put on fara iacute setja a sig question spurning quick fljoacutetur adj quit haeligtta radio uacutetvarp rain rigning n rigna v rather frekar heldur reach naacute iacute read lesa ready (til)buacuteinn kominn reception moacutettaka red rauethur relative aeligttingi relax slappa af slaka aacute

remember muna rent leigja v leiga n


rest hviacutela sig restaurant veitingastaethur return koma aftur v baacuteethai leiethir (ticket)ride far right away strax right (til) haeliggri right reacutettur n reacutettur adj ring hringur river a fljoacutet road vegur road map vegakort room herbergi rose roacutes route leieth row roumleth run hlaupa reka (a business) sail sigla salesperson afgreiethslumaethur sandwich samloka scarf trefill (woollen) sjal schedule aacuteaeligtlun school skoacuteli Scottish skoskur adj Skoti n seat saeligti see sjaacute see you yieth sjaacuteumst seem virethast (imp) syacutenast (imp) seldom sjaldan sell selja send senda serve thornjoacutena bera fram service thornjoacutenusta several nokkrir

shallshould skulu eiga aeth shave raka sig she huacuten shine skiacutena ship skip shirt bolur skyrta (buttoned) shoe skoacuter shop buacuteeth verslun short stuttur laacutegvaxinn (built)show syacutening n syacutena v shower sturta have a shower fara iacute sturtu


siblings systkini sick veikur lasinn sight merkisstaethur sightseeing fara iacute (godohellip) skoethunarfereth sightseeing trip skoethunarfereth since siacuteethan sing syngja single (room) einbyacuteli sister systir sit sitja sit down setjast size nuacutemer ski skiacuteethi n fara aacute skiacuteethum vskin hueth sky himinn sleep sofa v svefn n sleeping bag svefnpoki slim grannur slow haeliggur seinn smart flottur finn snack snarl snow snjoacuter n snjoacutea v so svo(na) thornannig

so that svo aeth thornannig aeth some sumir someone einhver something eitthvaeth sometimes stundum son sonur sorry fyrirgefethu afsakieth south suethur fyrir sunnan souvenir minjagripur speak tala spend eyetha sports iacutethornroacutettir spring vor stamp friacutemerki start byrja fara aeth stay dvoumll n gista (overnight) dvelja (longer time) vera aacutefram veretha aacutefram (remain) still ennthornaacute stomach magi stone steinn stop stoppa stansa v viethkomu-staethur stoppistoumleth n story saga


street gata stress streita stress strong sterkur student nemandi stuacutedent studies naacutem study laeligra lesa stuff doacutet efni sugar sykur

suggest stinga upp aacute suit passa v jakkafoumlt n summer sumar sun soacutel sunshine soacutelskin supper kvoumlldmatur surely viacutest oumlrugglega sweet saeligtur swim synda fara iacute sund swimming pool sundlaug table boreth lay the table leggja a borethieth take taka take off fara uacuter taka af seacuter talk (to) tala (vieth) tall haacuter haacutevaxinn (built) stoacuter taste smakka (trans) bragethast (intrans) v brageth ntea te teacher kennari telephone hringja iacute v siacutemi n television sjoacutenvarp tell segja fraacute temperature hitastig tent tjald n tjalda v thank thornakka thank you thornakka thorneacuter fyrir takk (fyrir) theatre leikhuacutes there thornarna (dem) thornar (ref) thornangaeth (motion to)

thornaethan (motion from) there isare thornaeth ereru ishellipthere erhellipvieth therefore thorness vegna they thorneir (m) thornaeligr (f) thornau (n)thick thornykkur think hugsa halda thornykja thirsty thornyrstur this thornessi thornetta (n)


thousand thornuacutesund throw kasta ticket (far)miethi tarseethill time tiacutemi to til toast skaacutela (fyrir) today iacute dag together saman toilet snyrting salerni kloacutesett toiletries hreinlaeligtisvoumlrur tomorrow aacute morgun tonight iacute kvoumlld tourist ferethamaethur towards aeth town baeligr kaupstaethur town centre miethbaer trade verslun traditional hefethbundinn traffic umfereth traffic light umferetharljoacutes train aeligfa sig (v) translate thornyacuteetha travel agency ferethaskrifstofa travel ferethast treatment meethfereth tree treacute trip fereth

trousers buxur true sannur try reyna proacutefa turn off sloumlkkva (aacute) turn on kveikja (aacute) under undir unfortunately thornviacute miethur university haskoacuteli unpleasant leiethinlegur until (thornangaeth) til not hellipki fyrr enhellipup upp (motion) uppi (static) use nota various yacutemsir very mjoumlg view uacutetsyacuteni visit heimsaeligkja v heimsoacutekn n wait biacuteetha wake vekja


wake up vakna walk ganga go for a walk fara iacute goumlngufereth want vilja warm hlyacuter wash thornvo (seacuter) watch uacuter n horfa aacute v water vatn waterfall foss we vieth weather veethur week vika weekend helgi welcome velkominn youre thornaeth var liacutetieth welcome ekkert aeth thornakka west vestur fyrir vestan

wet blautur what hvaeth what kind of hvaetha hvernig when hvenaeligr where hvar hvert (motion to) hvaethan (motion from) thornar sem (conj)which sem while a meethan a little while smaacutestund white hviacutetur who hver whole heill why af hverju hvers vegna wife (eigin)kona wind vindur windy hvass window giuggi

wine leacutettviacuten (rauethviacuten hviacutetviacuten) winter vetur wish oacuteska v oacutesk n with meeth hjaacute woman kona wood viethur treacute work vinna starfa worry aacutehyggja n hafa aacutehyggjur vwrite skrifa wrong rangur whatrsquos wrong hvaeth er aeth year ar


yellow gulur yes jaacute juacute (in reponse to neg) yesterday iacute gaeligr you thornuacute (sg) thornieth (pl) young ungur


Index

ability 14 accommodation 11 16 addresses 4 adjectives singular 2

plural 3 gender 2 strong declension 5 weak declension 10 compounds 5

adverbs 3 12 amounts 3 4 8 11 antonyms 5 arrangements and appointments 10 articles gender 1

declension 4 separate 15

booking 6 11

cases use of 4 5 7 11

with verbs 4 5 with prepositions 7

clothing 5 colours 2 comparison 12 conditional 16 countries 2 courtesies and politeness 1 7 16 customs 7

dates 10 descriptions 5 15

each other (reciprocity) 12 eiga 4

eiga aeth 6

family and relatives 9 food and taste 8 fraction 5

future 4 6 10

gender 1 geography 13 greetings 1 7

health and body 15 hljoacuteta aeth 6 holidays 7 housing 16 how+adjectives 4 8 11

I-shift 7 imperative 10 impersonal constructions 8 13 15 indirect speech 16 information asking for 2

giving 2 intensifiers 12 interrogatives 1

pronoun declensions 5 intransitive verbs 13

j in spelling 5

kunna 14

leisure 12 letters 10 14 lsquoletrsquosrsquo (suggested action) 3 likes and dislikes 8 living 4 16

maethur 4 measurements 3 4 8 11 mega 4 middle voice 12 13 money 3 munu 10

names 1 nationalities 2 necessity 6 negation 2 12 nouns compounds 5

declension 4 11 gender 1 irregular 9

Index 330

plural 3 singular 1

numbers cardinal

declension 5 gender 3

ordinal

gender 10 declension 10 with plural nouns 11

ordering 4 8 11 outdoors 13

participles past 13

present 13 passive 13 past simple 14 past continuous 14 perfect present 15

past 15 permission 4 plural 3 possession 9 possibility 14 present simple strong verbs 7

use of 7 weak verbs 2 3

present continuous 1 use of 7

prices 4 pro-forms 13 professions 2

pronouns personal

declension 6 gender 1 3 plural 3 singular 1

demonstrative 15 dual 11 indefinite 8 negative 8 12 plural 11 possessive 9 reflexive 12

questions 1

Index 331

radio and television 6 reflexivity 12

schedules 6 shopping 4 8 11 skulu 10 sports 12 subjunctive past 16

present 16

telephone 10 tickets 6 time days 3

hours 3 5 months 3 seasons 3 5 telling 6

travelling 6 3

U-shift 3

vera 1 verb conjugation strong past 14

strong present 7 weak past 14 weak present 2 3

veretha aeth 6 vita 14

weather 13 word order 1 12

Index 332

Book Cover

Half-Title

Series Title

Title

Copyright

Contents

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations

Introduction

The Sounds and Letters of Icelandic



3 Hvert foumlrum vieth


5 Foumlt


7 Daglegt Liacutef

8 Verethi thorneacuter aeth Goacuteethu

9 Fjoumllskyldan

10 Stefnumoacutet

11 Gisting

12 Toacutemstundir

13 Iacutesland


15 Houmlfueth Herethar Hneacute og Taeligr

16 Gangi thorneacuter Vel

Grammar Summary

Glossary of Grammatical Terms

Key to Exercises

Glosses of Reading Passages

Icelandic-English Glossary

English-lcelandic Glossary

Index







Daisy LNeijmann

London and New York











047062




Contents


Abbreviations viii

Introduction 1


















Grammar summary 231






Index 329

Acknowledgements




adj adjective

adv adverb

comp comparative

conj conjunction

dat dative

dem demonstrative

excl exclamation

ffem feminine

gen genitive

imp imperative

impers impersonal

indecl indeclinable

inf infinitive

inter interrogative

interj interjection


lit literally

mmasc masculine

nneut neuter

nom nominative

num numeral

pl plural

pp past participle

pref prefix


pron pronoun

refl reflexive

sgsing singular


superl superlative

trans transitive

vvb verb

Introduction



Iceland





Icelandic








Learning Icelandic




Introduction 3






Vowels



o toffee lofa







Consonants













hvaeth






hnerra









word final g lag








g mdash fljuacutega


Double consonants










Stress and length

























Dialogue 1











Language points

Nouns and gender






Exercise 1




Articles






Exercise 2


Personal pronouns



Dialogue 2








Iceland




























Athugieth (NB)


Exercise 3





Language points








Athugieth














Exercise 5










Exercise 7



Dialogue 3

Siacutemtal








Vocabulary notes
















Exercise 8



Reading 1





Vocabulary notes


















Dialogue 1

Spjall




A chat








Language points


Exercise 1









Exercise 2





Dialogue 2

Spjall 2





A chat 2







menningarliacutef n

kennir teach (from



how do you like it


Adjectives



Athugieth (Note)












Exercise 3




Exercise 4


Colours




Exercise 5




Dialogue 3































I like it here




Exercise 6


Language points

Occupations















Exercise 7



Negation









Exercise 8







Exercise 9


Verbs

















Exercise 10


Exercise 11



Exercise 12



Exercise 13






Exercise 14









Dialogue 1

Aacute Akureyri





In Akureyri





know






Language points


























U-shift agtoumlu









Exercise 1




Language points

Cardinal numbers






Exercise 2



out

Exercise 3








Exercise 4




Dialogue 2

Enn aacute Akureyri








Still in Akureyri










Language points

Numbers again






Exercise 5



skaacuteld

Money






Exercise 6




Years


Exercise 7













Exercise 8




Dialogue 3









What shall we do








Language points








Exercise 9








vor n


Juacuteliacute

halgi f

aacuteguacutest

sumar n


haust n








virka daga weekdays


Exercise 10






Exercise 11








Language points

Plural adjectives







Exercise 12



Suggested action







Exercise 13











Dialogue 1








In a bookshop












einkenni (-s -) n

characteristics


landmarks


need


recommend





Language points








Exercise 1


Exercise 2







Exercise 3










Exercise 4




Exercise 5





faeligr

faacute



Do you havehellip











How much How many





Dialogue 2


Exercise 6














Impersonal maethur






Dialogue 3







At the post office















buacutea








Exercise 7












5 Foumlt



Dialogue 1

Goumlngufatnaethur








ertu tilbuacutein


Hiking clothes















Foumlt 73


Language points











vera meeth acc






Exercise 1


Foumlt 75

Exercise 2



More adjectives









Exercise 3






sg


acc ____a ____ar

dat ____um ____um ____um

pl

gen ____ra ____ra ____ra



J-insertion


Foumlt 77

Exercise 4



Exercise 5






Reading 1






become longer




Exercise 6



Language points

Fraction






Exercise 7



Foumlt 79


Reading 2







Language points






Exercise 8



Exercise 9



Foumlt 81

More interrogatives







Exercise 10












Exercise 11



Exercise 12


Foumlt 83


Language points

Compounds






Exercise 13






Exercise 14


Reading 3




Foumlt 85













Dialogue 1

Aeth panta flug









choose




Language points




f list of fares

fram og til baka

Aeroplane


















Exercise 1


625 1830 1510 445 1255 2335 520 2040 1050 2100 1115

Exercise 2





Exercise 3
















Dialogue 2






Language points








Exercise 5



Dialogue 3















wait for




change


to pay cash


change buses


ask for



bus driver


transfer ticket


get onto the bus

Exercise 6









Exercise 7











Language points






Examples



Exercise 8



Exercise 9












Examples









Reading 1














Exercise 10




Exercise 11



Exercise 12











7 Daglegt liacutef



Reading 1








Language points












The I-shift






Exercise 1




Exercise 2







Exercise 3
















Dialogue 1


















Language points






































Exercise 4



Exercise 5




Reading 2


































Dialogue 1












(pasta) dish



kitchen cupboard



drifum okkur heim






















Exercise 1








Language points




















above kalt and gott


Exercise 2





Likes and dislikes








Exercise 3





Exercise 4A










jaretharberjasulta

Exercise 4B



Dialogue 2










bragethgoacuteethur




rack of lamb


how doeshelliptaste


pepper mill



Language points


Food and taste

Exercise 5



Exercise 6






Exercise 7





Ordering food


Exercise 8


Dialogue 3

Exercise 9
















Exercise 10



Dialogue 4

Gestaboeth


















sheeprsquos head




you are welcome to


ramrsquos testicle


chicken breast







9 Fjoumllskyldan



Reading 1








Language points




Fjoumllskyldan 135



Exercise 1







Exercise 2





Exercise 3







Fjoumllskyldan 137


Exercise 4



Language points

Possession

A Verbs















C The genitive case




Fjoumllskyldan 139





Athugieth







Exercise 5





Exercise 6




Exercise 7








Dialogue 1

Bruacuteethkaup



Fjoumllskyldan 141








Language points







Some other examples





Exercise 8








Fjoumllskyldan 143

Dialogue 2

Exercise 9



Exercise 10



10 Stefnumoacutet



Dialogue 1









Language points





Exercise 1







dat _____a _____a

gen _____a _____a

pl






Exercise 2



Stefnumoacutet 147



Exercise 3







Dialogue 2

Aethpanta tiacutema









Reading 1

Breacutef



Stefnumoacutet 149











directory

Stefnumoacutet 151

Dialogue 3











Language points

Imperative
















Stefnumoacutet 153


Exercise 5
















Exercise 6



Stefnumoacutet 155

11 Gisting



Dialogue 1

Aeth panta herbergi








Language points



Exercise 1





Gisting 157






















Dialogue 2










package trip



Gisting 159


Exercise 2











Language points





Gisting 161


Dialogue 3












Language points



Exercise 3



1 2 3 4 vettlingar

1 2 3 4 skaeligri


1 2 3 4 buxur

1 2 3 4 dyr (fpl)

Language points

More noun groups


Gisting 163


Masculine nouns




Feminine nouns






Neuter nouns


Exercise 4










8 Lestu boacutek

Gisting 165







Reading 1










Gisting 167

12 Toacutemstundir



Dialogue 1













Toacutemstundir 169

Language points

Reflexive pronouns










Exercise 1




Exercise 2



The middle voice





Toacutemstundir 171









Exercise 3




Dialogue 2

Aacutehugamaacutel














Toacutemstundir 173


Language points











Intensifiers





Exercise 4





Toacutemstundir 175

Reading 1






Exercise 5









Language points












Toacutemstundir 177

Superlative




yngstur
















Exercise 6







Language points

Negative pronouns

Toacutemstundir 179










Emphatic negation








Reading 2





Toacutemstundir 181




Reading 1

Iacutesland










Language points

Present participles



Iacutesland 183




Past participles
























Iacutesland 185

Exercise 1


Exercise 2



Dialogue 1

Uacutetivist














Exercise 3





Iacutesland 187


Dialogue 2

Exercise 4





Exercise 5




Exercise 6






Language points

Pro-forms









Iacutesland 189



Reading 2

Landshlutar






Language points













Veethrieth



Iacutesland 191



Exercise 7










Exercise 8




Language points

Iacutesland 193







Exercise 9








Reading 1











knock on the door


let someone in


Language points















Athugieth





Exercise 1


Exercise 2


Exercise 3







Exercise 5



















Reading 2

Breacutef










Exercise 7




Language points



















Exercise 8











Reading 3















react to flinch at








Dialogue 1









Vocabulary







einn rass



Language points















Exercise 2



Dialogue 2

Hjaacute laeligkni










Vocabulary










Language points





Exercise 3







Dialogue 3





moumlrgum


Dialogue 4

Exercise 4









________________________________________

Language points




















Exercise 5




Language points












Exercise 6




Reading 1

Freacutettagrein












base on rely on

Exercise 7







Dialogue 1

Happdraeligtti















sjuacutekur adv


Language points

















Exzercise 1



Exercise 2



Exercise 3





Reading 1










Exercise 5




Dialogue 2

Huacutesnaeligethi















Exercise 6


Language points

Reported speech













bjoumlrt

Exercise 7





Exercise 8


Dialogue 3

Gestir iacute kaffi













Language points





Exercise 10









7 Viltu dansa

Reading 2











Grammar summary







Grammar summary 232




______t

___(ethgtt) t

____(V)tt

___(C+dgtt)




Grammar summary 233



dat ______a ______a

gen ______a ______a

pl




Grammar summary 234

sinna sinna sinna




Grammar summary 235









Grammar summary 236






Grammar summary 237






Grammar summary 238















































Key to exercises

Lesson 1












Lesson 2





iacutersk 8 ensk














Lesson 3




















Lesson 4











Lesson 5




















Lesson 6














Lesson 7









Lesson 8














Lesson 9









Lesson 10











Lesson 11









Lesson 12











Lesson 13














Lesson 14















Lesson 15













Lesson 16

















Lesson 1





Lesson 5














Lesson 6





Lesson 7



















Lesson 9








Lesson 10

Breacutef a letter



Lesson 11







Lesson 12






Lesson 13

Iacutesland Iceland











Lesson 14







Breacutef a letter






Sincerely Joyce






Lesson 15





Lesson 16

Reykjaviacutek













access entrance






bathroom
























four-wheel drive





produce


































































































matter of doubt


vara- pref

spare extra















main road



service


p joacutenaeth) dat


poacute tt) conj





po rf (-ar -ir) f

need



ouml flugur adj

strong powerful


ankle


ouml r (-s -) n

scar



sure (of oneself)










old ahellipold




























































Index





booking 6 11






eiga aeth 6


future 4 6 10






j in spelling 5

kunna 14





Index 330

plural 3 singular 1

numbers cardinal


ordinal



participles past 13






pronouns personal



questions 1

Index 331



present 16



travelling 6 3

U-shift 3





Index 332

Book Cover

Half-Title

Series Title

Title

Copyright

Contents

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations

Introduction






5 Foumlt


7 Daglegt Liacutef


9 Fjoumllskyldan

10 Stefnumoacutet

11 Gisting

12 Toacutemstundir

13 Iacutesland




Grammar Summary


Key to Exercises




Index

Colloquial Icelandic: The Complete Course for Beginnersindex-of.es/Varios-2/Colloquial Icelandic...

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Transcript of Colloquial Icelandic: The Complete Course for Beginnersindex-of.es/Varios-2/Colloquial Icelandic...