Prices and Simple Shopping

This page gives you the fixed transaction phrases to survive a shop, a café, or a market in Iceland — enough to ask a price, say what you want, and pay. Treat most of these as chunks: memorise them whole now, and the grammar inside them (gender, the accusative) will make sense later. The one piece of grammar worth noticing immediately is that króna is feminine, which already forces you to say tvær krónur, not tveir.

Asking the price

The all-purpose question is Hvað kostar þetta? ("How much does this cost?"). Use þetta ("this") for something near you and það ("that") for something further off; both are neuter, so the verb stays kostar. For a named item, slot it in: Hvað kostar kaffið? ("How much is the coffee?").

Understanding the answer: krónur

The currency is the króna (kvk., feminine), plural krónur, abbreviated kr. Prices are large numbers because everything is priced in hundreds and thousands of krónur, so the words you need most are hundrað (hundred) and þúsund (thousand). A typical answer is Það kostar fimm hundruð krónur ("It costs 500 krónur").

Reading a price tag

On a tag you'll see a number followed by kr. — for example 1.290 kr. Note that Icelandic uses a dot as the thousands separator (so 1.290 means one thousand two hundred ninety, not one-point-two-nine). Say it as tólf hundruð og níutíu krónur or eitt þúsund tvö hundruð og níutíu krónur.

Saying what you want: Ég ætla að fá…

The polite, native way to order or buy is Ég ætla að fá… ("I'll have… / I'd like to get…"), literally "I intend to get." This is far more natural than translating "I want" directly. The item after fá goes in the accusative. Even softer is Get ég fengið…? ("Could I get…?").

The verb kaupa ("to buy") works the same way and also takes the accusative: Ég ætla að kaupa þessa peysu ("I'm going to buy this sweater").

Quantities: einn / eitt + noun

When you ask for "one" of something, the word for "one" agrees with the gender of the noun: einn (m.), ein (f.), eitt (n.). So it's einn kaffi (m.), eina köku (acc. f.), eitt vatn (n.). For more, use the plural: tvö kaffi, þrjár kökur.

Paying

You'll be asked Kort eða reiðufé? ("Card or cash?"). To pay by card is borga með korti (the dative korti after með), and to pay in cash is borga með reiðufé or í reiðufé. To check that card payment is fine, ask Get ég borgað með korti?

Wrapping up the transaction

Close with thanks. Takk fyrir ("thank you") and takk fyrir mig (said by a customer leaving, roughly "thanks for everything") are the standard sign-offs; the staff will often say Verði þér að góðu ("you're welcome / enjoy it").

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• Ask the price with Hvað kostar þetta? / Hvað kostar …?; answers come back as … krónur.
• króna is feminine (kvk.), so use tvær / þrjár / fjórar krónur, never tveir/þrír/fjórir.
• Order and buy with Ég ætla að fá… or Get ég fengið…? (and kaupa) — the item goes in the accusative.
• "One" agrees with gender: einn (m.), ein (f.), eitt (n.).
• Pay með korti (dative) or í reiðufé; expect the question Kort eða reiðufé?