Degree and Focus Adverbs | Icelandic Grammar

Degree adverbs turn the dial on an adjective or another adverb — they tell you how big, how fast, how tired. Focus adverbs do something different: they single out one element for attention — only you, even the teacher, also me. This page gathers the everyday members of both groups (mjög "very," of "too," nógu "enough," alveg "completely," frekar "rather," bara "just/only," líka "also," jafnvel "even," and friends) and shows where they sit and which traps English sets. The two biggest: "very" before an adjective is mjög, not mikið (a real transfer error), and the "only/just" slot is split between colloquial bara and neutral aðeins.

mjög — the default intensifier "very"

mjög is the all-purpose "very," placed directly before the adjective or adverb it boosts: mjög stór "very big," mjög þreyttur "very tired," mjög hratt "very fast." It does not inflect — mjög is invariant — and it is the word you should default to whenever English says "very."

Þetta er mjög stór hundur.

That's a very big dog. (mjög directly before the adjective)

Ég er mjög þreytt eftir vinnuna í dag.

I'm very tired after work today. (mjög + adjective)

Hann talar mjög hratt, ég næ varla að fylgjast með.

He talks very fast, I can barely keep up. (mjög + adverb hratt)

The trap here is mikið. English speakers, mapping "a lot / much," reach for mikið to mean "very" before an adjective — but mikið means "much / a lot" and modifies verbs and quantities, not adjectives. "I work a lot" is ég vinn mikið; "I'm very tired" is ég er mjög þreytt, never *mikið þreytt. Keep them apart: mjög intensifies adjectives/adverbs; mikið quantifies verbs and amounts.

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"Very" before an adjective or adverb is mjög. mikið means "much / a lot" and goes with verbs (ég sef mikið "I sleep a lot"), not adjectives. Saying *mikið þreyttur for "very tired" is the classic transfer error.

of — "too" (excessively)

of means "too" in the sense of excessively — more than is acceptable: of stór "too big," of dýrt "too expensive," of seint "too late." It sits directly before the adjective, like mjög, but the meaning is "beyond the right amount," not just "very." Note the spelling: of has no accent (don't confuse it with anything else).

Þessi peysa er of dýr, ég kaupi hana ekki.

This sweater is too expensive, I'm not buying it. (of + adjective = 'excessively')

Við komum of seint á fundinn.

We arrived too late for the meeting. (of seint — 'too late')

Kassinn er of stór til að passa í skottið.

The box is too big to fit in the trunk. (of … til að + infinitive — 'too … to')

That last pattern is worth holding onto: of … til að + infinitive = "too … to …" — of stór til að passa "too big to fit."

nógu — "enough" (sufficiently)

nógu means "enough / sufficiently," placed before the adjective: nógu gamall "old enough," nógu stór "big enough." Crucially, "enough to do something" uses the frame nógu … til að + infinitive — nógu gamall til að keyra "old enough to drive." Note the accent: nógu (with ó). Don't confuse adverbial nógu (before an adjective) with the quantifier nóg "enough (of something)" (nóg af mat "enough food").

Ertu nógu gamall til að kjósa?

Are you old enough to vote? (nógu gamall til að + infinitive)

Bíllinn er ekki nógu stór fyrir okkur öll.

The car isn't big enough for all of us. (nógu + adjective)

alveg, frekar, dálítið — degrees in between

Three useful mid-scale degree words. alveg means "completely / totally," but in everyday speech it also softens to "quite / really" (alveg frábært "absolutely great," alveg sammála "completely agree"). frekar means "rather / fairly" — a moderate, slightly understated degree (frekar dýrt "rather expensive," frekar kalt "fairly cold"); it doubles as "rather (prefer)" in frekar en "rather than." dálítið means "a bit / a little / somewhat" (dálítið þreyttur "a bit tired," dálítið skrýtið "a little strange").

Maturinn var alveg frábær, takk fyrir mig.

The food was absolutely great, thanks for having me. (alveg = 'completely/absolutely')

Það er frekar kalt úti í dag.

It's rather cold out today. (frekar = 'fairly/rather', understated)

Ég er dálítið stressuð fyrir prófið.

I'm a bit stressed about the exam. (dálítið = 'a bit')

bara and aðeins — "just / only" (and the overlap)

Both bara and aðeins translate "just / only," and here the overlap needs flagging. aðeins is the neutral, slightly more written word for "only / merely" — aðeins tveir "only two," aðeins augnablik "just a moment." bara is the colloquial, pervasive everyday "just / only" — bara tveir, bara grín "just a joke." In ordinary speech bara is everywhere; aðeins sounds a touch more careful or formal. The complication: bara also works as a discourse softener ("just," as in ég var bara að spyrja "I was just asking") — that pragmatic use is treated separately under particles. Here, treat both as the focus adverb "only / just."

Það eru aðeins tvö sæti laus eftir.

There are only two seats left. (aðeins — neutral 'only')

Ég ætla bara að fá mér kaffi, ekkert meira.

I'm just going to grab a coffee, nothing more. (bara — colloquial 'just/only')

Slappaðu af, þetta var bara grín.

Relax, it was just a joke. (bara — everyday colloquial)

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bara and aðeins both mean "only/just," but aðeins is the neutral/written choice while bara is colloquial and pervasive. bara also serves as a discourse softener ("I was just asking") — that pragmatic job is a separate topic.

líka and jafnvel — additive focus

líka means "also / too," adding one more item to a set: Ég kem líka "I'm coming too." Its placement is the thing to watch — it follows the element it adds, typically after the verb or right by the focused phrase, never stranded at the very front the way English also can lead a clause. jafnvel means "even," marking something surprising in the set: jafnvel ég "even I," jafnvel á sumrin "even in summer."

Hann kom líka í veisluna.

He came to the party too. (líka after the verb)

Ég vil líka fá ís.

I want ice cream too. (líka in mid-clause, after the finite verb)

Jafnvel ég gat leyst þetta dæmi.

Even I could solve this problem. (jafnvel marking the surprising 'I')

Það getur snjóað hér, jafnvel í júní.

It can snow here, even in June. (jafnvel + the surprising time phrase)

einmitt — "exactly / precisely"

einmitt means "exactly / precisely / just so," confirming or pinpointing: einmitt það "exactly that," einmitt þess vegna "precisely for that reason." On its own as a one-word reply, Einmitt! means "Exactly! / Quite right!" and is extremely common in conversation.

Einmitt þess vegna þurfum við að flýta okkur.

That's exactly why we need to hurry. (einmitt þess vegna — 'precisely for that reason')

„Þú meinar að hún vissi þetta allan tímann?

'You mean she knew the whole time?' — 'Exactly.' (one-word confirmation)

Common Mistakes

❌ Ég er mikið þreyttur.

Wrong intensifier — 'very tired' is mjög þreyttur. mikið means 'much/a lot' (with verbs), not 'very' (with adjectives).

✅ Ég er mjög þreyttur.

I'm very tired. (mjög before the adjective)

This is the headline transfer error. English "much/a lot" tempts you to mikið, but the intensifier for an adjective is mjög. mikið quantifies verbs (ég vinn mikið).

❌ Hann kom í veisluna líka hann (or líka leading the clause oddly).

Misplaced — líka attaches by the verb/focused element: Hann kom líka í veisluna.

✅ Hann kom líka í veisluna.

He came to the party too. (líka in its natural mid-clause slot)

líka sits next to the element it adds, in mid-clause after the finite verb — not stranded at the front or the very end the way English also/too can wander.

❌ Þessi peysa er mjög dýr til að kaupa.

Wrong degree word for 'too … to' — that's of … til að, not mjög.

✅ Þessi peysa er of dýr til að kaupa.

This sweater is too expensive to buy. (of … til að for 'too … to')

"Too … to …" needs of (excessive), not mjög (very). mjög dýr is "very expensive"; of dýr til að kaupa is "too expensive to buy."

❌ Ertu nóg gamall til að keyra?

Wrong form — before an adjective it's the adverb nógu, not the quantifier nóg.

✅ Ertu nógu gamall til að keyra?

Are you old enough to drive? (nógu + adjective)

Adverbial "enough" before an adjective is nógu (nógu gamall); nóg is the quantifier "enough of something" (nóg af tíma).

❌ Maturinn var mjög frábær.

Redundant/odd — frábær ('great, fabulous') is already a strong adjective; intensify with alveg, not mjög.

✅ Maturinn var alveg frábær.

The food was absolutely great. (alveg for already-strong adjectives)

With absolute/strong adjectives (frábær "fabulous," fullkominn "perfect"), Icelandic prefers alveg "completely/absolutely" over mjög "very," just as English prefers "absolutely great" to "very great."

Key Takeaways

mjög = "very," the default intensifier before adjectives/adverbs; never mikið (which means "much/a lot," with verbs).
of = "too / excessively" (of dýr); frame of … til að = "too … to." Spelled of, no accent.
nógu = "enough / sufficiently" before an adjective (nógu gamall); frame nógu … til að = "enough to."
alveg = "completely/absolutely," frekar = "rather/fairly," dálítið = "a bit."
bara (colloquial) and aðeins (neutral) both = "only/just"; bara also softens discourse.
líka = "also" (sits mid-clause by the verb), jafnvel = "even," einmitt = "exactly."

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