To find your way around an Icelandic town you need two things: the names of places, and the right little preposition in front of each one. Icelandic splits "in/at/to a place" between í and á, and which one a place takes is mostly arbitrary — so the smart move at A1 is to learn each place with its preposition as a single chunk: í búð (to/at a shop), á kaffihúsi (at a café). This page gives you the words, the fixed í/á pairs, the Hvar er …? ("Where is …?") frame, and the special case of til + genitive for going to a person or service. Genders are tagged: kk = masculine, kvk = feminine, hk = neuter.
The places
| Icelandic | Gender | English |
|---|---|---|
| búð | kvk | shop |
| verslun | kvk | store (slightly more formal) |
| banki | kk | bank |
| skóli | kk | school |
| sjúkrahús / spítali | hk / kk | hospital |
| flugvöllur | kk | airport |
| veitingastaður | kk | restaurant |
| kaffihús | hk | café |
| bókasafn | hk | library |
| kirkja | kvk | church |
| torg | hk | square (town square) |
| sundlaug | kvk | swimming pool |
Note the two hospital words: sjúkrahús (hk) is the neutral term, spítali (kk) is just as common in speech. And búð (kvk) vs verslun (kvk) — both mean a shop; verslun sounds a touch more formal or signals a bigger store, but they overlap.
Það er nýr veitingastaður við torgið.
There's a new restaurant by the square. 'veitingastaður' (kk), 'torg' (hk) → definite 'torgið'.
The í/á split — learn it as fixed pairs
Here is the thing English doesn't prepare you for: Icelandic doesn't have one word for "at/in a place." Some places take í, others take á, and there's little logic you can lean on at A1. Rather than fight it, memorise each place with its preposition. The good news: the same preposition works whether you're at the place or going to it (Icelandic distinguishes those two by the case, which you'll meet later — at A1 you can lean on the fixed pairs).
| í-places | á-places |
|---|---|
| í búð (shop) | á kaffihúsi (café) |
| í banka (bank) | á flugvelli (airport) |
| í skóla (school) | á veitingastað (restaurant) |
| í kirkju (church) | á bókasafni (library) |
| í sundlaug (pool) | á spítala (hospital) |
| í bænum (in town) | á torgi (square) |
Notice that after the preposition the noun changes its ending — that's the case at work: banki → banka, kaffihús → kaffihúsi, flugvöllur → flugvelli. Don't leave the noun in its dictionary form.
Ég er í búð, ég kem strax.
I'm at the shop, I'll be right there. The pair is fixed: 'í búð' — búð (kvk) keeps its form here.
Hann vinnur á kaffihúsi í miðbænum.
He works at a café downtown. 'á kaffihúsi' — café takes á, and the noun goes to 'kaffihúsi'.
Við hittumst á bókasafninu klukkan þrjú.
Let's meet at the library at three. 'á bókasafni' (→ definite 'bókasafninu') — the library takes á.
Going somewhere: "fara í / á"
To say you're going to a place, use fara (to go) + the same í/á the place takes. Going to a place uses the accusative (this is the "motion" case), so a few endings shift again — but the í/á choice stays glued to the place.
Ég fer í búð eftir vinnu.
I'm going to the shop after work. 'fara í búð' — same preposition, motion.
Eigum við að fara á kaffihús?
Shall we go to a café? 'fara á kaffihús' — the café keeps its á.
Krakkarnir fara í skóla klukkan átta.
The kids go to school at eight. 'fara í skóla' — school takes í.
"Hvar er …?" — Where is …?
The all-purpose locating question is Hvar er …? ("Where is …?"). The answer often uses the place-adverbs hér (here), þarna (there), þar (there, farther/known).
Hvar er bankinn?
Where is the bank? 'Hvar er …?' + the definite noun 'bankinn'.
Bankinn er þarna, við hliðina á kirkjunni.
The bank is over there, next to the church. 'þarna' = over there; 'kirkjunni' is the dative of kirkja after 'við hliðina á'.
Afsakið, hvar er næsta sundlaug?
Excuse me, where is the nearest swimming pool? 'næsta sundlaug' — sundlaug (kvk).
"Til + genitive": going to a person or service
When you go to a person or a personal service — the doctor, the dentist, the hairdresser — Icelandic uses til, and til always takes the genitive case. This is a fixed rule: after til, the noun is in the genitive, which changes its ending.
| Nominative | Genitive (after til) | English |
|---|---|---|
| læknir (kk) | til læknis | to the doctor |
| tannlæknir (kk) | til tannlæknis | to the dentist |
| amma (kvk) | til ömmu | to grandma's |
Ég þarf að fara til læknis á morgun.
I need to go to the doctor tomorrow. 'til + genitive' → 'læknis' (from læknir).
Hvernig kemst ég til miðbæjar héðan?
How do I get to the centre of town from here? 'Hvernig kemst ég til …?' — and 'til' forces the genitive: 'miðbæjar'.
Common Mistakes
❌ á búð
Incorrect — 'búð' takes í, not á.
✅ í búð
To/at the shop. Learn búð with í.
❌ í kaffihús (for 'at a café')
Incorrect — café takes á, not í.
✅ á kaffihúsi
At a café. The café's preposition is á.
❌ Ég fer í banki.
Incorrect — noun left in the dictionary form after the preposition.
✅ Ég fer í banka.
I'm going to the bank. 'banki' → 'banka' after í.
❌ til læknir
Incorrect — 'til' requires the genitive, not the nominative.
✅ til læknis
To the doctor. 'til' + genitive 'læknis'.
❌ Hvar er banki? (pointing at THE bank)
Usually wrong — when you mean a specific, known bank, use the definite form.
✅ Hvar er bankinn?
Where is the bank? Definite 'bankinn' for the known bank.
Key Takeaways
- Tag each place's gender — búð (kvk), banki/skóli (kk), kaffihús/bókasafn/torg (hk) — because it drives every ending.
- The í/á choice is arbitrary at A1, so learn each place as a fixed pair: í búð, í banka, í skóla but á kaffihúsi, á flugvelli, á spítala.
- After a preposition the noun changes ending (banki → banka, kaffihús → kaffihúsi); never leave it in dictionary form.
- Ask location with Hvar er …?
- the definite noun (Hvar er bankinn?).
- til always takes the genitive — til læknis, til miðbæjar — and powers Hvernig kemst ég til …?
Now practice Icelandic
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Start learning Icelandic→Related Topics
- First Prepositions: í, á, með, til, fráA1 — The five highest-frequency prepositions for daily use — í 'in', á 'on/at', með 'with', til 'to', frá 'from' — and the one idea that will shape everything later: a preposition changes the form (case) of the noun that follows it.
- í vs á: Choosing the Right LocativeA2 — A practical decision guide and memorise-list for choosing between í 'in' and á 'on/at' with Icelandic place names, activities and events — a split that is partly logical and largely lexical.
- Directions and Location VocabularyA2 — Giving and following directions in Icelandic — til hægri/vinstri, beint áfram, við hliðina á + dative, fyrir framan + accusative — taught as a concentrated case-government workout, since each location phrase fixes the case of what follows it.