This is the page you keep open while you read and write. Icelandic has no separate word for "the" — definiteness is a suffix glued onto the end of the noun, and that suffix declines for gender, number, and case just like the noun it rides on. The detailed mechanics (the fusions, why the nominative "eats" the ending, how the genitive stacks two -s) live on the three paradigm pages. What you get here is the consolidation those pages can't give you: every form, all three genders side by side, in one grid. Seeing them together is what turns rote memorisation into pattern recognition — the -n- running through masculine and feminine, the -ð- marking neuter, the -num / -nni / -nu of the dative, the -ins / -innar / -ins of the genitive.
How to read this table
Each cell shows a model noun with the article already attached. The three models are one per gender:
- hestur (kk, "horse") — masculine
- borg (kvk, "city") — feminine
- borð (hk, "table") — neuter
To use the grid: (1) identify your noun's gender, (2) identify the case and number the sentence needs, (3) read across to the matching cell, and (4) apply the same join to your own noun. The article endings are constant within a gender; only the noun stem in front of them changes. The bare article forms (what's actually being suffixed) are listed under the grid so you can see the suffix in isolation.
The full grid: all genders, all cases, both numbers
| Case | Masculine sg (hestur) | Feminine sg (borg) | Neuter sg (borð) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nefnifall (nom.) | hesturinn | borgin | borðið |
| Þolfall (acc.) | hestinn | borgina | borðið |
| Þágufall (dat.) | hestinum | borginni | borðinu |
| Eignarfall (gen.) | hestsins | borgarinnar | borðsins |
| Case | Masculine pl (hestar) | Feminine pl (borgir) | Neuter pl (borð) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nefnifall (nom.) | hestarnir | borgirnar | borðin |
| Þolfall (acc.) | hestana | borgirnar | borðin |
| Þágufall (dat.) | hestunum | borgunum | borðunum |
| Eignarfall (gen.) | hestanna | borganna | borðanna |
The article in isolation — the suffix you're adding
Strip the noun away and these are the bare article forms. This is the part to memorise; the noun stem in front of it is whatever your dictionary gives you:
| Case | Masc. sg | Fem. sg | Neut. sg | Masc. pl | Fem. pl | Neut. pl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| nom. | -inn | -in | -ið | -nir | -nar | -in |
| acc. | -inn | -ina | -ið | -na | -nar | -in |
| dat. | -num | -nni | -nu | -num | -num | -num |
| gen. | -ins | -innar | -ins | -nna | -nna | -nna |
A few patterns leap out of this grid once you look for them:
- The nominative singular is the famous trio: masculine -inn (double n), feminine -in (single n), neuter -ið (with eth, ð). Get these three right and you've got the most-used forms in the language.
- The dative singular has its own shape per gender: -num (m), -nni (f), -nu (n). The feminine doubles the n; the neuter has just -nu.
- The genitive singular: -ins (m), -innar (f), -ins (n). Masculine and neuter are identical; the feminine is the long one.
- The dative plural is the same in all three genders: -num, and on the noun it surfaces as -unum (because the noun's own dative-plural -um stacks with it). hestunum, borgunum, borðunum — one shape to learn.
- The genitive plural is also uniform: -nna in every gender (hestanna, borganna, borðanna).
The forms in action
A handful of sentences so the cells aren't just abstract. Masculine, all four singular cases:
Hesturinn minn heitir Sokki.
My horse is called Sokki. Nominative singular masculine: 'hestur' + '-inn' → hesturinn.
Ég gef hestinum hey.
I give the horse hay. Dative singular masculine 'hestinum' — 'gefa' takes a dative object.
Feminine — watch the -in / -ina / -inni / -innar run, which is the feminine's signature:
Borgin sefur aldrei.
The city never sleeps. Nominative singular feminine: 'borg' + '-in' → borgin (single n).
Við gengum um borgina í allan dag.
We walked around the city all day. Accusative singular feminine 'borgina' = 'borg' + '-ina'.
Hann ólst upp í borginni.
He grew up in the city. Dative singular feminine 'borginni' — note the double n: -nni.
Saga borgarinnar nær aftur til landnáms.
The city's history goes back to the settlement. Genitive singular feminine 'borgarinnar' = 'borgar' + '-innar'.
Neuter — the -ð- form, identical in nom. and acc.:
Borðið er úr eik.
The table is made of oak. Nominative singular neuter: 'borð' + '-ið' → borðið (with eth).
Settu bækurnar á borðið.
Put the books on the table. Accusative singular neuter 'borðið' — same as the nominative for neuter nouns.
And the gender-blind plurals:
Strætó stoppar við öll borðin og bekkina á torginu.
The bus stops by all the tables and benches in the square. Neuter nom./acc. plural 'borðin' = 'borð' + '-in'.
Maturinn var borinn fram á borðunum úti í garði.
The food was served on the tables out in the garden. Dative plural 'borðunum' — the gender-blind -unum.
Common Mistakes
❌ Looking up 'city' (feminine) in the masculine column: 'borgurinn'
Incorrect — 'borg' is feminine, so the article is '-in', not the masculine '-inn'. The form is 'borgin'.
✅ borgin
the city — feminine nominative singular.
❌ Treating the article as a fixed, uninflected word: 'á borgin', 'í hesturinn'
Incorrect — the article declines with the case. After 'á'/'í' with location you need the dative: 'í borginni', 'á hestinum'.
✅ Hann býr í borginni. / Hnakkurinn er á hestinum.
He lives in the city. / The saddle is on the horse. Dative forms, because the article inflects too.
❌ Single n in the masculine nominative: 'hesturin'
Incorrect — masculine nom.sg is '-inn' with a DOUBLE n; single -in is the feminine.
✅ hesturinn
the horse — double n.
❌ Single -um in the definite dative plural: 'hestum', 'borðum'
Incorrect — the definite dative plural stacks the noun's -um with the article, giving '-unum'.
✅ hestunum, borðunum
to the horses, on the tables — dative plural definite, -unum, in every gender.
❌ Using -ð in the masculine/feminine article: 'hesturið', 'borgurð'
Incorrect — the eth (ð) belongs to the NEUTER nominative '-ið'. Masculine is '-inn', feminine is '-in'.
✅ hesturinn, borgin, borðið
the horse, the city, the table — -inn / -in / -ið, one per gender.
Key Takeaways
- The "the" suffix declines for gender, number, and case — it is never a fixed word.
- Nominative singular trio: masculine -inn, feminine -in, neuter -ið. The most-used forms; memorise these first.
- Dative singular differs by gender: -num / -nni / -nu. Genitive singular: -ins / -innar / -ins.
- The dative plural -unum and genitive plural -nna are the same in all genders — free wins.
- To find any form: pick the gender, pick the case/number, read the cell, and apply the same join to your noun. For why a cell looks the way it does, see the gender's paradigm page.
Now practice Icelandic
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Start learning Icelandic→Related Topics
- Definite Article: Masculine ParadigmA2 — The full case-by-case suffixed definite article on a masculine noun — hesturinn, hestinn, hestinum, hestsins / hestarnir, hestana, hestunum, hestanna — including the nom.sg fusion, the genitive -sins, and the double -um dative plural.
- Definite Article: Feminine ParadigmA2 — The full suffixed definite article on feminine nouns — strong borgin, borgina, borginni, borgarinnar and weak konan, konuna, konunni, konunnar — with the doubled -nn- of the dative and genitive singular that is the gender's signature spelling trap.
- Definite Article: Neuter ParadigmA2 — The full suffixed definite article for neuter nouns — borðið / borðinu / borðsins and plural borðin / borðunum / borðanna — built on the strong sample borð and the irregular auga-type, with the crucial fact that neuter nominative and accusative are always identical.
- The Suffixed Definite ArticleA1 — Icelandic has no separate word for 'the' and no word for 'a' — definiteness is a declined article suffixed onto the already-declined noun, so a definite noun marks its case twice (hestur → hesturinn, borð → borðið, hesti → hestinum).