Preposition errors in Icelandic come in two layers, and English speakers regularly get both wrong at once. The first layer is which preposition to use — and you cannot read this off English, because Icelandic carves up "wait for," "think about," "look at" with its own choices. The second layer is which case the preposition then assigns to its noun. A sentence can be wrong because the preposition is wrong, because the case is wrong, or — most often — because both are wrong together. This page catalogues the high-frequency offenders and fixes both layers in each correction.
(Pure case mechanics — why með takes the dative — live on the general case-errors page; whole-phrase idiom calques like "taka mynd" belong with vocabulary. Here we target the preposition itself and the case it governs.)
Layer 1: wrong preposition
Icelandic verbs select their prepositions lexically, and the choice rarely maps onto the English one. The cure is to learn each verb together with its preposition as a single lexical unit.
bíða eftir, not *bíða fyrir
"Wait for" tempts the English speaker into fyrir (which often translates "for"), but the Icelandic verb is bíða eftir ("wait after"), and eftir here governs the dative.
❌ Ég er að bíða fyrir strætó.
Incorrect — 'wait for' is bíða eftir, not bíða fyrir.
✅ Ég er að bíða eftir strætó.
I'm waiting for the bus. — bíða eftir + dative.
Why it's wrong: bíða selects eftir, not fyrir; the English "for" is a false friend. Underlying rule: bíða eftir + dative — bíða eftir þér, bíða eftir svari, bíða eftir strætó.
hugsa um, not *hugsa á
"Think about" is hugsa um + accusative. English "about/on" pulls learners toward á, but á is wrong with hugsa.
❌ Ég er alltaf að hugsa á þig.
Incorrect — 'think about' is hugsa um (+ accusative), not hugsa á.
✅ Ég er alltaf að hugsa um þig.
I'm always thinking about you. — hugsa um + accusative: þig.
Why it's wrong: hugsa selects um, which takes the accusative. Underlying rule: hugsa um + accusative — hugsa um þig, hugsa um framtíðina, hugsa um það. (Note the separate idiom hugsa vel um = "take care of.")
A few more high-frequency verb + preposition pairs
These four catch English speakers constantly; learn the pairing, not the English gloss.
❌ Ég er að leita að lyklana.
Incorrect — leita að takes the DATIVE (lyklunum), not the accusative.
✅ Ég er að leita að lyklunum.
I'm looking for the keys. — leita að + dative.
❌ Hún er ástfangin í honum.
Incorrect — 'in love with' is ástfangin AF, not ástfangin í.
✅ Hún er ástfangin af honum.
She's in love with him. — ástfangin af + dative.
Why these are wrong: leita selects að (+ dative) for "search for"; ástfanginn selects af (+ dative) for "in love with." Underlying rule: a verb's (or adjective's) preposition is part of its dictionary entry — leita að + dat., ástfanginn af + dat., hlusta á + acc., horfa á + acc.
Layer 2: right preposition, wrong case
Here the preposition is correct but the noun is left in the wrong case — usually the bare nominative, because the learner forgot the preposition governs something else.
til + genitive, not *til + nominative
til ("to") is one of the few prepositions that take the genitive, and place names inflect for it. "To Reykjavík" is til Reykjavíkur, not til Reykjavík. This is one of the very highest-frequency errors, because til is so common and the genitive of place names is unfamiliar.
❌ Við ætlum til Reykjavík um helgina.
Incorrect — til governs the genitive, so Reykjavík must become Reykjavíkur.
✅ Við ætlum til Reykjavíkur um helgina.
We're going to Reykjavík this weekend. — til + genitive: Reykjavíkur.
Why it's wrong: til assigns the genitive; the place name is not exempt. Underlying rule: til + genitive — til Reykjavíkur, til Akureyrar, til Íslands, til Englands, til læknis.
með + dative pronoun, not *með + nominative
með ("with") takes the dative, so "with me" is með mér, never með ég. The personal pronouns are where this surfaces most, because English "me/him/her" don't change after "with."
❌ Viltu koma með ég?
Incorrect — með governs the dative, so 'me' is mér, not the nominative ég.
✅ Viltu koma með mér?
Do you want to come with me? — með + dative: mér.
Why it's wrong: með assigns the dative; the pronoun must take its dative form. Underlying rule: með + dative — með mér, með þér, með honum, með henni, með okkur.
Layer 3: the motion-vs-location case switch
A handful of prepositions — í, á, undir, yfir, fyrir — take two cases: the accusative for motion toward a goal, the dative for static location. English uses the same form for both ("into school" / "in school"), so learners freeze one case and get the other situation wrong. With a motion verb you need the accusative.
❌ Ég er að fara í skólanum.
Incorrect — fara is motion toward, so í takes the accusative skólann, not the locative dative skólanum.
✅ Ég er að fara í skólann.
I'm going to school. — motion → accusative: í skólann.
Why it's wrong: fara is motion, so two-case í takes the accusative — í skólann. The dative skólanum means "located in the school," which is wrong for "going to." Underlying rule: motion → accusative, location → dative; the verb tells you which. Contrast the static ég er í skólanum "I'm at school" (dative, because vera is location).
✅ Ég er í skólanum allan daginn.
I'm at school all day. — location → dative: í skólanum.
Layer 4: the í/á place split
Whether a place takes í ("in") or á ("on/at") is fixed per place name and does not follow any English logic. Towns, regions, and islands split unpredictably: it is í Reykjavík but á Akureyri, í Kópavogi but á Selfossi. You simply have to learn each place with its preposition. The error is defaulting everything to í.
❌ Hún býr í Akureyri.
Incorrect — Akureyri takes á, not í: á Akureyri.
✅ Hún býr á Akureyri.
She lives in Akureyri. — á Akureyri (fixed choice).
❌ Þau eru á Reykjavík núna.
Incorrect — Reykjavík takes í, not á: í Reykjavík.
✅ Þau eru í Reykjavík núna.
They're in Reykjavík now. — í Reykjavík (fixed choice).
Why these are wrong: the í/á choice is lexicalised per place — there is no rule to derive it from. Underlying pattern (a rough tendency, not a law): coastal towns and many places ending in -eyri, -nes, -fjörður often take á (á Akureyri, á Ísafirði, á Egilsstöðum); the capital and many inland/larger places take í (í Reykjavík, í Kópavogi, í Hafnarfirði). When unsure, learn the place name with its preposition attached, the same way you learn a noun with its gender.
Quick-reference: the fixes
| Wrong | Right | What was fixed |
|---|---|---|
| bíða fyrir | bíða eftir + dat. | preposition |
| hugsa á | hugsa um + acc. | preposition |
| til Reykjavík | til Reykjavíkur | case (genitive) |
| með ég | með mér | case (dative) |
| fara í skólanum | fara í skólann | case (motion accusative) |
| í Akureyri | á Akureyri | preposition (place í/á) |
Key Takeaways
- Preposition errors are two-layered: wrong preposition and/or wrong case. Fix both.
- Learn verbs with their prepositions: bíða eftir (+ dat.), hugsa um (+ acc.), leita að (+ dat.), ástfanginn af (+ dat.).
- til + genitive even for place names: til Reykjavíkur, til Akureyrar, til Íslands.
- með + dative pronoun: með mér, never með ég.
- Two-case prepositions: motion → accusative (fara í skólann), location → dative (vera í skólanum).
- The í/á place choice is fixed per place: í Reykjavík but á Akureyri — learn it with the name.
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Start learning Icelandic→Related Topics
- Prepositions and Case: OverviewA2 — The central fact of Icelandic prepositions: every preposition governs a case — accusative, dative, or genitive — and a famous handful govern TWO cases, accusative for motion and dative for location, with the motion/location alternation being the single highest-value preposition rule in the language.
- í and á: 'in/on/at' and the Geography RuleA2 — The two most frequent Icelandic prepositions, both two-case — í 'in/into', á 'on/at/onto' — and the lexicalised place-name split where some towns take í and others á for no semantic reason, including the rule that 'in Iceland' is á Íslandi (because it's an island, you're 'on' it).
- Two-Case Prepositions: Motion vs LocationA2 — The flagship Icelandic preposition rule: the spatial two-case prepositions í, á, undir, yfir, eftir take the accusative for motion / change of location (fara í bæinn) and the dative for static location / rest (vera í bænum) — the same preposition, the same noun, two endings, decided by whether the action changes where the figure is.
- Genitive Prepositions: til, án, vegna, milli, aukB1 — The prepositions that govern the genitive — til 'to/of', án 'without', vegna 'because of', milli/á milli 'between', auk 'in addition to', innan/utan 'inside/outside of' — with the huge gotcha that til forces a genitive even on place names and people (til Reykjavíkur, til Jóns) and that vegna often follows its noun (mín vegna 'for my sake').
- 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.
- Case Errors: Prepositions and ObjectsB1 — A catalogue of the most frequent Icelandic case-assignment errors — wrong case after a preposition, wrong object case with dative-governing verbs, and missing the motion-vs-location switch — all traceable to one missing habit: asking what case the word assigns.