this and that: þessi and þetta | Icelandic Grammar

When you point at something and say "this is …," or pick out "this book" from a shelf, you need a demonstrative. Icelandic's everyday "this" is þessi, and its neuter form þetta turns out to be one of the most useful single words a beginner can own — it is the opener for "This is …" (Þetta er …) and works as a catch-all "this/that" for pointing at things. This page introduces þessi and þetta for daily use. Like other Icelandic words, they change form for gender, number and case; the full table of forms (and the separate word sá, "that") are handled on their own pages. Here we keep to what you need to start pointing at things today.

"This" comes in genders: þessi / þessi / þetta

"This" agrees with the gender of its noun, exactly like the articles and pronouns you have already met. In the basic (nominative) form there are three shapes, but two of them are identical:

Gender	"this _"	Example noun
Masculine	þessi	þessi maður (this man)
Feminine	þessi	þessi kona (this woman)
Neuter	þetta	þetta barn (this child)

So masculine and feminine share þessi; only the neuter is different, þetta. The demonstrative goes before the noun, and the noun stays bare (no definite suffix) after it — you do not say þessi maðurinn, just þessi maður.

Þessi maður talar íslensku.

This man speaks Icelandic. Masculine noun 'maður' → 'þessi maður'. The noun is bare — no '-inn' suffix.

Þessi bók er góð.

This book is good. Feminine 'bók' also takes 'þessi' — same form as the masculine.

Þetta barn er þreytt.

This child is tired. Neuter 'barn' takes the neuter demonstrative 'þetta'.

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"This" before a noun is þessi for masculine and feminine, and þetta only for neuter. The noun stays bare: þessi maður, not þessi maðurinn.

þetta as the all-purpose "this is …"

Here is the high-value piece. When you identify something — "This is a book," "This is my brother," "What is this?" — Icelandic uses the neuter þetta as a fixed opener, regardless of the gender of the noun that follows. This is because, at the moment of identifying, you are pointing at an unspecified "thing," and the neuter is the default for an unidentified thing.

Þetta er bók.

This is a book. Even though 'bók' is feminine, the opener is the neuter 'þetta er …'.

Þetta er bíllinn minn.

This is my car. 'bíll' is masculine, but you still open with 'þetta er …'.

Þetta er bróðir minn.

This is my brother. Identifying a person — still 'þetta er …'.

Notice what just happened: in þetta er bók the noun bók is feminine, yet we used the neuter þetta. That is not a contradiction — when þetta introduces a thing ("this is …"), it does not agree with the following noun at all; it is a fixed frame meaning roughly "this thing here is …". This makes Þetta er … a wonderfully safe sentence pattern for a beginner: you can name anything with it without first working out the noun's gender.

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Þetta er … ("this is …") is your safest opener at A1. When you are identifying something, always use the neuter þetta — it never has to agree with the following noun. Use it to name any object or person without worrying about gender.

The same neuter þetta is also the everyday word for "this" / "that" / "it" when you point at a thing without naming it:

Hvað er þetta?

What is this? / What is that? Pointing at something unnamed → the neuter 'þetta'.

Þetta er gott!

This is good! / That's good! Said about food, news, or anything — 'þetta' as a free-standing 'this/that'.

Hver á þetta?

Whose is this? Asking about an unnamed object — 'þetta' again.

A note on "that"

When you want to contrast "this (near)" with "that (further away)," the dedicated word for "that" is sá (with its own gender forms), covered on its own page. But in casual speech the neuter það ("it/that") often does the job of pointing at something further off, paralleling þetta for "this":

Þetta er gott, en það er betra.

This is good, but that is better. 'þetta' for the nearer thing, 'það' for the further one — the everyday this/that pair.

At A1 you can get a very long way with just þetta ("this / this thing") and það ("that / it") for pointing, and save the full sá and þessi paradigms for later.

Common Mistakes

❌ Þetta maður (for 'this man').

Incorrect — a masculine noun takes 'þessi', not the neuter 'þetta', when 'this' modifies the noun directly.

✅ þessi maður

This man. Masculine → 'þessi'.

❌ Þessi er bók (for 'this is a book').

Incorrect — the identifying opener is the neuter 'Þetta er …', not 'þessi er'.

✅ Þetta er bók.

This is a book. Identifying frame uses neuter 'þetta'.

❌ Þessi bókin er góð.

Incorrect — the noun stays bare after the demonstrative; don't add the definite suffix.

✅ Þessi bók er góð.

This book is good. Bare noun after 'þessi'.

❌ Treating 'þetta' as the one word for 'this' before every noun (þetta maður, þetta bók).

Incorrect — before masculine/feminine nouns use 'þessi'; 'þetta' is the neuter and the identifying opener.

✅ þessi maður, þessi bók, þetta barn

This man, this book, this child. 'þessi' (m./f.) vs 'þetta' (n.).

❌ Writing 'thetta' or 'thessi' without þ.

Incorrect — both begin with the letter þ: 'þetta', 'þessi'.

✅ þetta, þessi

This (n.), this (m./f.). The þ is part of the word.

Key Takeaways

"This" modifying a noun is þessi for masculine and feminine, þetta for neuter — and the noun stays bare (þessi maður, not þessi maðurinn).
The neuter þetta is the all-purpose identifying opener: Þetta er … ("This is …") works for any noun's gender — a safe A1 frame.
Use þetta to point at unnamed things ("Hvað er þetta?", "Þetta er gott!").
For "that," the everyday neuter is það; the full demonstrative sá comes later.
þessi and þetta do decline for gender, number and case — the rest of the paradigm is deferred, but remember the gender system is in play here too.

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