Classroom and Learning Phrases | Icelandic Grammar

These are the phrases that let you survive a lesson conducted in Icelandic — the questions you ask about the language while you're still learning it. Learn them as fixed chunks; you don't need to parse the grammar to use them. But one of them, the all-important Hvernig segir maður … á íslensku? ("how do you say … in Icelandic?"), quietly contains a real grammar point — the generic maður, meaning "one / you / people in general" — so you'll absorb an impersonal construction just by memorising the most useful sentence in the room.

The survival set

Icelandic	English
Hvernig segir maður … á íslensku?	How do you say … in Icelandic?
Hvað þýðir …?	What does … mean?
Ég skil ekki.	I don't understand.
Ég skil.	I understand. / I see.
Geturðu endurtekið?	Can you repeat (that)?
Hægar, takk.	Slower, please.
Hvernig er þetta stafsett?	How is this spelled?
Ég veit ekki.	I don't know.
Afsakið?	Sorry? / Excuse me?

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Memorise these as whole units, like phrases on flashcards. You don't have to understand why each word is shaped the way it is to use the chunk correctly — the analysis below is a bonus, not a prerequisite.

"Hvernig segir maður … á íslensku?" — the generic "maður"

This is the question you'll reach for constantly: you know a word in English, you want it in Icelandic. Literally it reads "how says one … in Icelandic?" — and that maður is the heart of it. Outside this phrase maður (kk) means "man, person," but here it's the generic "one / you / people in general," exactly like the impersonal "you" in English "how do you say …" (where "you" doesn't mean the listener specifically). Icelandic uses maður where English uses generic "you" or formal "one."

You slot the word or phrase you're asking about straight into the gap:

Hvernig segir maður 'library' á íslensku?

How do you say 'library' in Icelandic? The generic 'maður' = 'one / you in general'; the English word goes in the gap.

Hvernig segir maður þetta á íslensku?

How do you say this in Icelandic? Point at the thing and use 'þetta' (this) in the gap.

Two orthography points worth flagging: it's á íslensku — the preposition á with an accent, and íslensku with a lowercase i (Icelandic does not capitalise language names, unlike English). And maður has the ð (eth): not "madur."

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Maður here means "one / generic you," not "a man." The same little word powers other everyday generalisations — maður veit aldrei ("you never know"). Spotting it in this phrase gives you a free preview of the impersonal-maður construction.

"Hvað þýðir …?" — asking for a meaning

The mirror question: you've heard an Icelandic word and want its meaning. Þýða is "to mean," and þýðir is its "it/he/she" form. Slot the unknown word into the gap.

Hvað þýðir 'takk'?

What does 'takk' mean? 'þýðir' = means; the word you're asking about goes in the gap.

Afsakið, hvað þýðir þetta orð?

Sorry, what does this word mean? 'þetta orð' = this word (orð, hk) when you can point at it.

Don't mix the two up: segir maður asks how to produce a word ("how do you SAY …"); þýðir asks for a meaning ("what does … MEAN"). English speakers sometimes calque "what means …?" — but the Icelandic word order is Hvað þýðir …?, with hvað ("what") first.

"Ég skil (ekki)" and asking for a repeat

Skilja is "to understand"; ég skil is "I understand." Add ekki ("not") after the verb for the negative — and ekki comes after the verb, not before it as in English "do not."

Ég skil ekki, geturðu sagt þetta aftur?

I don't understand, can you say that again? 'ekki' follows the verb: skil + ekki.

Já, ég skil núna. Takk!

Yes, I understand now. Thanks! 'Ég skil' on its own = I get it / I see.

To ask for a repeat, Geturðu endurtekið? — geturðu is "can you" (the verb getur fused with þú), and endurtekið is "repeat(ed)." A softer everyday version is Geturðu sagt þetta aftur? ("can you say that again?").

Geturðu endurtekið, aðeins hægar?

Can you repeat that, a bit slower? 'Geturðu endurtekið?' is the textbook 'can you repeat?'.

"Hægar, takk" and "Hvernig er þetta stafsett?"

When the teacher is going too fast, Hægar, takk — "slower, please." Hægar is the comparative of hægt ("slowly"), so it literally means "more slowly," and takk is "thanks/please."

Aðeins hægar, takk, ég næ þessu ekki.

A bit slower, please, I can't keep up. 'hægar' = more slowly; 'takk' softens it to 'please'.

And to get a spelling: Hvernig er þetta stafsett? — "how is this spelled?" Stafsett comes from stafsetja (to spell), and stafur (kk) is "a letter." Icelandic spells out loud using the letter names, so this question often leads into the alphabet.

Hvernig er þetta stafsett? Með einu eða tveimur n-um?

How is this spelled? With one or two n's? A very Icelandic follow-up — single vs double consonants matter a lot here.

Common Mistakes

❌ Hvernig segir þú 'library' á íslensku?

Possible but means 'how do YOU (specifically) say it' — for the general question, use generic 'maður'.

✅ Hvernig segir maður 'library' á íslensku?

How do you say 'library' in Icelandic? Generic 'maður' = one / people in general.

❌ Hvað meinar þetta?

Incorrect for 'what does this mean' — 'meina' is 'to mean (to intend)' said of a person, not of a word.

✅ Hvað þýðir þetta?

What does this mean? Words 'mean' with 'þýða' → þýðir.

❌ Ég ekki skil.

Incorrect — 'ekki' goes AFTER the verb, not before it.

✅ Ég skil ekki.

I don't understand. Verb first, then 'ekki'.

❌ á Íslensku

Incorrect — language names are lowercase in Icelandic.

✅ á íslensku

In Icelandic. Lowercase 'íslensku', and 'á' has the accent.

❌ Hægara, takk.

Wrong comparative form — the adverb 'slower' is 'hægar', not 'hægara'.

✅ Hægar, takk.

Slower, please. 'hægar' is the comparative adverb.

Key Takeaways

Learn these as chunks — you can deploy them perfectly without dissecting the grammar.
Hvernig segir maður … á íslensku? ("how do you say …") uses the generic maður ("one / people in general") — your free preview of the impersonal construction.
Hvað þýðir …? asks for a meaning; Hvernig segir maður …? asks how to say something. Don't swap them, and don't calque "what means …?".
ekki ("not") comes after the verb: Ég skil ekki.
Mind the orthography: á íslensku (lowercase language, accented á), maður with ð, and the comparative adverb is hægar, not hægara.

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