annar: 'another', 'the other', 'second' | Icelandic Grammar

Few small words earn their keep like annar. In a single irregular package it carries "another", "the other (of two)", "one (of two)", and the ordinal "second" — and it builds the everyday reciprocal hvor annan "each other". It is extremely common, which is unlucky, because its declension is one of the most irregular in the language: the feminine is önnur (with a u-umlaut you can't predict), the neuter is annað, the dative is öðrum (with a ð), and the genitive is annars. There is no neat stem you can lean on. This page gives you the full paradigm, the four main uses, and the contrast with hinn "the other" — a neighbour it is easy to confuse. (hinn itself, as a determiner, has its own page; here we use it only to draw the line.)

The irregular paradigm — learn it as a block

You cannot derive annar by rule, so memorise the table. The two cells that catch everyone are the feminine nominative önnur (u-umlaut: a → ö) and the dative öðrum (u-umlaut plus the ð).

	Masc.	Fem.	Neut.	Plural (m / f / n)
Nom.	annar	önnur	annað	aðrir / aðrar / önnur
Acc.	annan	aðra	annað	aðra / aðrar / önnur
Dat.	öðrum	annarri	öðru	öðrum / öðrum / öðrum
Gen.	annars	annarrar	annars	annarra / annarra / annarra

Trace the irregularities so they stop surprising you. The masculine runs annar → annan → öðrum → annars: note the double n in annan, the ð and umlaut in öðrum. The feminine is wild: nominative önnur, accusative aðra, dative annarri (double r), genitive annarrar (double r). The neuter is annað / öðru / annars. And the masculine plural aðrir "others" (with ð) is the form you meet in sumir … aðrir "some … others". Get the ð and the ö right — öðrum, not "ondrum"; önnur, not "annur".

Ég ætla að fá mér annan kaffibolla.

I'll have another cup of coffee. (masculine accusative annan)

Hún býr í öðru hverfi núna.

She lives in a different/other neighbourhood now. (neuter dative öðru)

Sumir vilja koma, aðrir ekki.

Some want to come, others don't. (masculine plural aðrir 'others')

Use 1: "another" — one more

The most basic meaning is "another / a different one" — an additional or alternative member of a category. Here annar works as a determiner before a noun, agreeing with it, and translates English "another" or "a different".

Þetta virkar ekki, prófaðu aðra aðferð.

This doesn't work, try another method. (feminine accusative aðra with aðferð)

Getum við hist annan dag?

Can we meet another day? (masculine accusative annan)

Hún á annan bíl sem hún notar á veturna.

She has another car that she uses in winter. (annan = 'a second / additional')

Use 2: "the other (of two)" and the correlative annar … hinn

When a set has exactly two members, annar picks out "the one" and pairs naturally with hinn "the other" for the second. This correlative annar … hinn is the standard way to talk about two contrasting items: "one … the other".

Hann hélt á tösku í annarri hendi og síma í hinni.

He held a bag in one hand and a phone in the other. (annarri … hinni — one hand … the other)

Annar tvíburinn er rólegur, hinn er fjörugur.

One twin is calm, the other is lively. (annar … hinn for two)

Önnur hliðin er máluð, hin ekki.

One side is painted, the other isn't. (feminine önnur … hin)

Notice that both members of the pair inflect and agree with their noun: annarri … hinni (dative feminine, with hönd "hand"), önnur … hin (nominative feminine, with hlið "side"). The correlative is a fixed rhetorical frame, but the words inside it still decline normally.

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For a set of exactly two, the natural frame is annar … hinn "the one … the other". annar introduces the first, hinn names the second. Both agree with whatever noun they describe.

Use 3: the ordinal "second"

Here is a fact English speakers find startling: Icelandic has no separate word for "second". The ordinal "second" simply is annar — the same word as "another / the other". There is no *secondth form; the language reuses annar. So "the second seat" is annað sætið, "second place" is annað sætið / annar í röðinni, and "every other / every second day" is annan hvern dag.

Hann lenti í öðru sæti í keppninni.

He came in second place in the competition. (neuter dative öðru with sæti 'seat/place')

Annað bindi bókarinnar kemur út í haust.

The second volume of the book comes out in autumn. (neuter annað = 'second')

Ég fer í ræktina annan hvern dag.

I go to the gym every other day. (annan hvern dag = 'every second day')

This double duty is worth internalising because it removes a word you might expect to learn. When you reach for "second" as an ordinal, the answer is the annar paradigm you already have — annar / önnur / annað, declined to fit the noun. (The fuller set of ordinals — fyrsti, annar, þriðji, fjórði … — is on the Ordinals page; the point here is only that the "second" slot is filled by annar.)

Use 4: the reciprocal hvor annan "each other"

Finally, annar builds the reciprocal "each other" in the construction hvor annan (literally "each the-other"). Both parts inflect: hvor "each (of two)" and annar "the other" take the case the verb or preposition demands, and they typically frame the two participants of a mutual action.

Þau elska hvort annað.

They love each other. (neuter hvort annað for a mixed-gender couple)

Bræðurnir hjálpa hvor öðrum.

The brothers help each other. (masculine hvor … öðrum, dative after hjálpa)

Við sáum hvort annað á hátíðinni.

We saw each other at the festival. (hvort annað, accusative)

The form shifts with gender and the governing case: hvor annan (masc. acc.), hvor öðrum (masc. dat. after a dative verb like hjálpa), hvort annað (neut., used for mixed groups). For a group of more than two, Icelandic switches to hver annan (from hver "each of many"), but hvor annan — built on annar — is the everyday "each other" for two. (The wider reciprocal system has its own page; what matters here is that annar is its second half.)

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"Each other" is hvor annan (two) — built from hvor "each of two" + annar "the other". Both halves take the case the verb assigns: hjálpa (dative) gives hvor öðrum, a plain transitive verb gives hvor annan.

annar vs hinn — drawing the line

Because both annar and hinn can be rendered "the other" in English, learners blur them. The distinction:

annar is the indefinite/additional "another, a different one" and the first member of a two-set ("one … the other") and the ordinal "second". It introduces or counts.
hinn is the definite "the other one" — the specifically remaining member, often the second half of the annar … hinn pair. It points at the other, already identifiable one.

So annan dag is "another day" (some other, unspecified day), while hinn daginn is "the other day" (the specific other one of two known days). Reach for annar when you mean "a further / a different / second" and for hinn when you mean "the (definite) other".

Komdu annan dag, ekki á morgun.

Come another day, not tomorrow. (annan = some other, indefinite day)

Hinn bíllinn er ódýrari.

The other car is cheaper. (hinn = the definite other one of two)

Common Mistakes

❌ Ég á aðra bíl.

Incorrect — bíll is masculine, so 'another car' is annan bíl, not the feminine aðra.

✅ Ég á annan bíl.

I have another car.

annar agrees with its noun. bíll is masculine accusative here, so the form is annan, not the feminine aðra. The irregular paradigm still has to match gender and case.

❌ Hún býr í annarri hverfi.

Incorrect — hverfi is neuter, so 'in another neighbourhood' is öðru hverfi (neuter dative).

✅ Hún býr í öðru hverfi.

She lives in another neighbourhood.

The feminine dative annarri and the neuter dative öðru are different cells. hverfi is neuter, so the dative is öðru — and note the u-umlaut and the ð.

❌ Hann lenti í annað sæti.

Incorrect case — after í (location) with sæti the dative is needed: öðru sæti.

✅ Hann lenti í öðru sæti.

He came in second place.

Even as the ordinal "second", annar still inflects for case. After í in this locational sense it takes the dative öðru, not the nominative/accusative annað.

❌ Þau elska hina aðra.

Incorrect — 'each other' is the fixed reciprocal hvor annan / hvort annað, not 'hina aðra'.

✅ Þau elska hvort annað.

They love each other.

"Each other" is the set phrase hvor annan (here neuter hvort annað for a mixed couple), built from hvor + annar. You can't assemble it from hinn + annar.

❌ Annar bíllinn er ódýrari.

If you mean 'the other car' (the definite remaining one), this should be hinn, not annar.

✅ Hinn bíllinn er ódýrari.

The other car is cheaper.

For the definite "the other one" of two, Icelandic uses hinn. annar is "another / a second", not the specifically-identified remaining one. (Saying annar bíllinn is fine when you mean "one of the two cars" introducing the pair — but for "the other" it's hinn.)

Key Takeaways

annar is high-frequency and irregular: feminine önnur (u-umlaut), neuter annað, accusative annan, dative öðrum (umlaut + ð), genitive annars, masculine plural aðrir "others". Learn the table as a block.
It means "another / a different one" (annan bíl), "the other of two" in the correlative annar … hinn, and the ordinal "second" (annað sætið) — Icelandic has no separate word for "second".
It builds the reciprocal hvor annan "each other" (two) — both halves inflecting for case (hvor öðrum after hjálpa).
Don't confuse it with hinn: annar is "another / a second / one of two"; hinn is the definite "the (remaining) other one".
Mind the orthography: the u-umlaut in önnur / öðrum / öðru, the ð in öðrum / aðrir / aðra, and the doubled r in annarri / annarrar / annarra.

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