Coordinating Conjunctions: og, en, eða, né | Icelandic Grammar

Coordinating conjunctions join things of equal rank — two nouns, two adjectives, two whole clauses — and, crucially, they leave word order alone. When og, en, or eða links two main clauses, each keeps its normal V2 order: Ég kom og ég sá ("I came and I saw"), with no inversion. This page covers the four basic coordinators plus the one structure English speakers reliably get wrong: heldur ("but rather"), the obligatory continuation after a negative. Master that and the correlative pairs (bæði...og, hvorki...né) and you'll connect your clauses like a native.

og — "and"

og is the plain "and," joining any two equals: nouns, adjectives, clauses. It does nothing to word order. When it links clauses, the shared subject may be repeated or dropped, just as in English.

Kaffi og kaka, takk.

Coffee and cake, please. og joining two nouns.

Ég kom og ég sá.

I came and I saw. og linking two main clauses; each keeps its order, no inversion.

Hún opnaði dyrnar og gekk inn.

She opened the door and went in. Shared subject dropped in the second clause — perfectly natural.

en — "but" (and a softer "and")

en marks contrast: "but." It also covers a mild adversative "and" where English might use either — a slight turn or qualification rather than a sharp opposition. The thing to absorb is that Icelandic reaches for en, not og, wherever there's any contrast at all; using og where en is idiomatic is a classic transfer error.

Lítið en gott.

Small but good. en marks the contrast between the two adjectives.

Ég ætlaði að koma, en ég gat það ekki.

I meant to come, but I couldn't. The two clauses contrast; en links them, both keep their order.

Hann er ungur en mjög reyndur.

He's young but very experienced. en for the 'young yet experienced' contrast.

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Reach for en wherever there's contrast, even mild. English often blurs this with "and" ("nice and cheap" = "nice but cheap"); Icelandic keeps en for the turn and og for the plain addition.

eða — "or"

eða is "or," in questions and statements alike. It joins alternatives without touching order.

Viltu te eða kaffi?

Do you want tea or coffee? eða between two alternatives.

Við getum farið núna eða beðið.

We can go now or wait. eða linking two infinitive options.

A key restriction: in negative sentences, Icelandic does not usually use eða. Where English says "not tea or coffee," idiomatic Icelandic prefers né or the correlative hvorki ... né ("neither ... nor"). More on that below.

né — "nor", and hvorki ... né — "neither ... nor"

né means "nor" and requires a preceding negative — it cannot start a thought on its own. Most often it appears in the correlative frame hvorki ... né ("neither ... nor"), which is the standard way to deny two things at once. Note the accent: né carries it; ne is not a word.

Ég drekk hvorki te né kaffi.

I drink neither tea nor coffee. The hvorki ... né frame negates both.

Hann sagði ekkert, né heldur leit hann á mig.

He said nothing, nor did he look at me. né continues an existing negation.

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In negatives, prefer né / hvorki ... né over eða. "I don't want tea or coffee" is most naturally Ég vil hvorki te né kaffi. And the accent matters: it's né, never ne.

heldur — "but rather": the obligatory continuation after a negation

Here is the structure English speakers systematically get wrong. When you negate one option and then assert the correct one — "not X but Y" — Icelandic does not use en. It uses heldur ("but rather"): ekki X heldur Y. English collapses both the contrastive "but" (lítið en gott) and the corrective "but rather" (not today but tomorrow) into a single word "but"; Icelandic splits them. en is for two co-existing facts that contrast; heldur is for replacing a rejected option with the right one.

Ekki í dag, heldur á morgun.

Not today, but tomorrow. The classic ekki X heldur Y — correcting a rejected option.

Hann er ekki kennari, heldur nemandi.

He's not a teacher, but a student. The first is rejected, the second replaces it → heldur.

Við förum ekki með bíl, heldur með strætó.

We're not going by car, but by bus. ekki ... heldur, not ekki ... en.

To feel the difference: Hann er ungur *en reyndur ("he's young *but experienced") asserts two true facts that pull against each other. Hann er ekki kennari, *heldur nemandi ("he's not a teacher, *but rather a student") rejects the first and substitutes the second. Swap them and a native immediately hears the error.

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After a negation that you then correct, use heldur, not en: ekki X heldur Y = "not X but (rather) Y." Reserve en for two contrasting facts that both hold.

The correlatives: bæði ... og, annaðhvort ... eða

Two more paired frames round out coordination. bæði ... og is "both ... and"; annaðhvort ... eða is "either ... or." They simply double up the basic coordinators with a leading element.

Hún talar bæði íslensku og dönsku.

She speaks both Icelandic and Danish. bæði ... og = both ... and.

Þú mátt annaðhvort koma með okkur eða bíða hér.

You can either come with us or wait here. annaðhvort ... eða = either ... or.

Common Mistakes

❌ Hann er ungur og reyndur (meaning 'young BUT experienced').

Wrong connector — there's a contrast here, so Icelandic wants en, not og.

✅ Hann er ungur en reyndur.

He's young but experienced. en for the contrast.

❌ Hann er ekki kennari en nemandi.

Incorrect — after a negation you're correcting, use heldur, not en.

✅ Hann er ekki kennari, heldur nemandi.

He's not a teacher, but a student. ekki X heldur Y.

❌ Ég vil ekki te eða kaffi.

Unidiomatic — in a negative, Icelandic prefers né / hvorki ... né over eða.

✅ Ég vil hvorki te né kaffi.

I want neither tea nor coffee. The hvorki ... né frame.

❌ Ég drekk hvorki te eða kaffi.

Incorrect pairing — hvorki must pair with né, not eða.

✅ Ég drekk hvorki te né kaffi.

I drink neither tea nor coffee. hvorki ... né.

❌ Ekki í dag né á morgun (meaning 'not today but tomorrow').

Wrong word — né negates a second item; to correct with the right option, use heldur.

✅ Ekki í dag, heldur á morgun.

Not today, but tomorrow. heldur replaces the rejected option.

Key Takeaways

Coordinating conjunctions join equals and leave word order untouched — each main clause keeps V2 (Ég kom og ég sá).
og = and (plain addition); en = but (any contrast, even mild); eða = or.
In negatives, prefer né / hvorki ... né ("neither ... nor") over eða — and né keeps its accent.
After a negation you then correct, use heldur, not en: ekki X heldur Y ("not X but rather Y"). This is the structure English speakers most often miss.
Correlative pairs: bæði ... og (both ... and), hvorki ... né (neither ... nor), annaðhvort ... eða (either ... or).

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