Comparison and Manner: en, sem, eins og, því...því | Icelandic Grammar

Once you can form comparatives (hærri "higher," betri "better"), you need the small kit of words that attach the thing you're comparing to: "than," "as ... as," "like," and "the more ... the more." This page is about those linkers, not about the comparative endings themselves (for those, see adjectives/comparative-syntax). Three of them carry almost all the weight: en ("than," after a comparative), eins og ("like / as," and also "the way / as if"), and the proportional pair því ... því ("the more ... the more"). The two facts that save English speakers the most grief: "than" is en (a homograph of en "but"), and "like" is eins og as a two-word unit — sem on its own does not mean "like."

en — "than", after a comparative

After a comparative adjective or adverb, "than" is en. So eldri en ég ("older than me"), hærra en húsið ("higher than the house"), fyrr en ég hélt ("sooner than I thought"). The pronoun after en normally appears in its nominative/subject form when a verb is understood — eldri en ég ("older than I [am]"), not eldri en mig — because Icelandic treats the compared element as the subject of an elided clause.

Hann er tveimur árum eldri en ég.

He's two years older than me. (en after the comparative eldri; ég in subject form)

Þetta er miklu betra en ég bjóst við.

This is much better than I expected. (en linking to a whole clause)

Hún hleypur hraðar en allir aðrir í bekknum.

She runs faster than everyone else in the class. (en after the adverb hraðar)

Here is the catch that trips everyone at least once: en ("than") is spelled and pronounced exactly like en ("but"). They are different words doing different jobs — en "but" coordinates contrasting clauses (see conjunctions/coordinating); en "than" follows a comparative. Context disambiguates them effortlessly for a native, but as a learner you should notice which one you're using so you don't, say, expect the "but" comma rules after a comparative.

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"Than" = en, the same string as en "but" — two different words, one spelling. After a comparative (eldri, betra, fyrr), en means "than," and a following pronoun takes the subject form: eldri en ég ("older than I"), not en mig.

eins og — "like / as" (similarity)

To say something is like something else, or done as / the way something is done, Icelandic uses eins og — and it is two words: eins + og. This is the workhorse of comparison-of-manner. "She sings like an angel," "do as I say," "white as snow" — all eins og.

Hún syngur eins og engill.

She sings like an angel. (eins og — similarity)

Gerðu þetta eins og ég segi.

Do this the way I say. (eins og introducing a manner clause)

Það er hvítt eins og snjór.

It's white as snow. (eins og)

The single biggest error here is reaching for sem alone to mean "like." sem is the relative pronoun ("who/which/that") and, in a different role, "as" in restricted phrases — but on its own it does not translate English "like." "Be like me" is vera eins og ég, never vera sem ég. Always pair it: eins og.

eins ... og — "as ... as" (equality)

Split the eins and og around an adjective or adverb and you get the equality comparison "as ... as": eins stór og ("as big as"), eins fljótt og ("as fast as"). The adjective or adverb sits in the gap, in its positive (uncompared) form.

Hann er eins hár og pabbi sinn.

He's as tall as his dad. (eins hár og — equality, positive adjective hár)

Komdu eins fljótt og þú getur.

Come as fast as you can. (eins fljótt og — equality with an adverb)

The negative "not as ... as" simply negates the verb: Hann er ekki eins hár og ég ("He's not as tall as I am"). And the fixed phrase eins og hægt er / eins og kostur er means "as much/far as possible."

eins og again — "as if / the way" (manner clause)

Here's the clever part: eins og does double duty. Besides "like / as" for similarity, it introduces full manner clauses meaning "as if" or "the way (that)." Eins og ekkert hafi gerst ("as if nothing had happened"), eins og hún væri ekki þreytt ("as if she weren't tired"). In this "as if" sense, the verb often goes into the subjunctive, because you're describing a hypothetical or counterfactual manner.

Hann hagar sér eins og hann eigi heiminn.

He acts as if he owns the world. (eins og + subjunctive eigi — 'as if')

Hún leit á mig eins og ég væri vitlaus.

She looked at me as if I were crazy. (eins og + subjunctive væri — counterfactual 'as if')

So one little phrase, eins og, spans "like an angel" (similarity), "do as I say" (the way), and "as if nothing happened" (hypothetical manner). English splits these across "like," "as," and "as if"; Icelandic keeps eins og and lets the mood of the following verb signal whether it's a real comparison (indicative) or a hypothetical one (subjunctive).

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eins og is two words and does triple duty: "like" (similarity), "the way / as" (manner), and "as if" (hypothetical, usually with the subjunctive). The indicative-vs-subjunctive choice after it tells you whether the comparison is real or imagined.

því ... því / eftir því sem — "the more ... the more" (proportional)

The proportional comparison — English "the more X, the more Y" — is built in Icelandic with the correlative því ... því (note the accent: því, never thvi or þvi). The pattern is því + comparative ... því + comparative: því meira ... því betra ("the more ... the better"). A subordinate version uses eftir því sem ("as / to the extent that") in the first half.

Því meira sem þú lest, því betra.

The more you read, the better. (því ... því proportional; sem introduces the clause)

Því fyrr því betra.

The sooner the better. (the compact frozen því ... því version)

Eftir því sem á daginn leið, varð hann þreyttari.

As the day wore on, he got more tired. (eftir því sem ... in the first half)

Two things English speakers get wrong. First, do not import English's definite article "the more" — there is no article in the Icelandic frame; it's því (a dative form of það), not "the." Second, when the first half is a clause, it's introduced by sem (því meira *sem þú lest) — the *sem is the relative linker doing its clause-attaching job, not a stray "as." The compact proverb form, though, drops the clause entirely: því fyrr því betra ("the sooner the better").

Common Mistakes

❌ Hún syngur sem engill.

Wrong word for 'like' — similarity is eins og, not sem alone.

✅ Hún syngur eins og engill.

She sings like an angel. (eins og)

sem on its own is the relative "who/which/that," not "like." "Like X" is always eins og X.

❌ Hann er eldri en mig.

Wrong case — after 'than' (en) the pronoun takes the subject form: eldri en ég.

✅ Hann er eldri en ég.

He's older than I am. (en + subject ég, because a verb is understood)

After comparative en ("than"), Icelandic uses the subject pronoun (ég), treating it as the subject of an elided "than I [am]" clause.

❌ Því meiri sem þú lest, því betra (using 'the' logic / wrong form).

Watch the form — the proportional frame is því (dative of það), with the comparative agreeing: því meira sem þú lest.

✅ Því meira sem þú lest, því betra.

The more you read, the better. (því ... því, no article)

There is no article in the proportional frame — it's því (not "the"), and því carries its accent.

❌ Hann hagar sér eins og hann á heiminn.

Mood error — in the 'as if' sense, the verb usually goes subjunctive: eins og hann eigi heiminn.

✅ Hann hagar sér eins og hann eigi heiminn.

He acts as if he owns the world. (eins og + subjunctive eigi)

In the "as if" (hypothetical) use of eins og, reach for the subjunctive (eigi, væri) — the indicative would assert it as literally true.

❌ Komdu eins fljótt sem þú getur.

Broken frame — 'as ... as' is eins ... og, so it must close with og, not sem.

✅ Komdu eins fljótt og þú getur.

Come as fast as you can. (eins ... og — equality)

The equality frame is eins ... og. Don't close it with sem; the second half of "as ... as" is og.

Key Takeaways

"Than" after a comparative is en (a homograph of en "but"), and a following pronoun takes the subject form: eldri en ég.
"Like / as" (similarity) is eins og — two words. sem alone does not mean "like."
"As ... as" (equality) splits the frame: eins
- [positive adjective/adverb] + og (eins hár og, eins fljótt og).
eins og also introduces manner clauses — "the way" and "as if." In the "as if" sense the verb usually goes subjunctive (eins og hann eigi ...), marking it as hypothetical.
The proportional "the more ... the more" is því ... því (accent on því, no article), with sem attaching a clause (því meira sem þú lest, því betra) — or the bare proverb því fyrr því betra.

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