Subject Pronouns: ég, þú, hann, hún, það | Icelandic Grammar

These are the words you will use in almost every sentence you ever speak: the subject pronouns — "I," "you," "he," "she," "it," "we," "they." This page gives you the nominative (subject) forms only, the shapes that stand in front of the verb as the doer of the action. The object forms ("me," "him," "us") belong to the full paradigm and are covered separately. Two things make this set more than a vocabulary list, and both are flagged here because they cannot wait: there is only one word for "you" (no polite/familiar split), and gender runs all the way through — even "it" and "they" come in genders.

The full set

Person	Icelandic	English
1st sg.	ég	I
2nd sg.	þú	you (one person)
3rd sg. masc.	hann	he / it (masc. noun)
3rd sg. fem.	hún	she / it (fem. noun)
3rd sg. neut.	það	it (neut. noun)
1st pl.	við	we
2nd pl.	þið	you (more than one)
3rd pl. masc.	þeir	they (masc. / male group)
3rd pl. fem.	þær	they (fem. / female group)
3rd pl. neut./mixed	þau	they (neut. / mixed group)

Mind the spelling as you learn them: ég and þú and hún and það all carry accents or the letter þ; the plurals þeir / þær / þau differ only in their vowel (ei / æ / au), so those three vowels are doing all the gender work.

Pronoun + verb: the basics

A subject pronoun sits in front of the verb, which changes its ending for each person. Here is each subject with the verb vera ("to be"):

Ég er þreyttur.

I am tired. 'ég' (I) + 'er' (am).

Þú ert kennari.

You are a teacher. 'þú' (you) + 'ert' (are).

Hann er heima.

He is at home. 'hann' (he) + 'er' (is).

Við erum á leiðinni.

We are on our way. 'við' (we) + 'erum' (are).

Þið eruð sein.

You are late. 'þið' is the plural 'you' (addressing more than one) + 'eruð' (are).

Don't drop the pronoun

If you have studied Spanish or Italian, you may expect to leave the pronoun out and let the verb ending carry the person. Do not do this in Icelandic. Although the verb does change its ending, the subject pronoun is normally kept. Dropping it sounds wrong or telegram-like in ordinary speech.

Ég tala íslensku.

I speak Icelandic. Keep 'ég' — you would not normally say just 'tala íslensku' for 'I speak Icelandic'.

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Icelandic is not a pro-drop language like Spanish. Keep the subject pronoun — ég tala, not bare tala. The verb ending alone is not enough.

One "you" — no polite form

English speakers sometimes worry about a polite "you" (like French vous or German Sie). Modern Icelandic has no such distinction in everyday use. þú is the universal singular "you" — you say it to your friend, your boss, your grandmother, and a stranger alike. (An old formal þér exists in archaic and very ceremonial language, but you will not use it and people will not expect it.)

Hvað heitir þú?

What is your name? You say 'þú' to absolutely anyone — there is no separate polite 'you' to choose.

The only choice you make for "you" is number: þú for one person, þið for more than one. That is the entire decision.

Eruð þið svöng?

Are you (all) hungry? Addressing more than one person → 'þið', not 'þú'.

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The only "you" decision is one vs many: þú (one person) vs þið (several). There is no polite/familiar choice to agonise over — modern Icelandic uses þú with everyone.

"It" has a gender — and so does "they"

Here is the part that cannot be deferred, because gender pervades the pronoun system from day one. English "it" is one word; Icelandic uses hann, hún, or það depending on the grammatical gender of the noun it refers to — not on whether the thing is alive. A masculine noun is "he," a feminine noun is "she," a neuter noun is "það."

Hér er bíllinn. Hann er nýr.

Here is the car. It is new. 'bíll' (car) is masculine, so the pronoun is 'hann' — literally 'he' — even though a car is an object.

Hér er bókin. Hún er góð.

Here is the book. It is good. 'bók' (book) is feminine, so 'it' is 'hún' — 'she'.

Hér er húsið. Það er stórt.

Here is the house. It is big. 'hús' (house) is neuter, so 'it' is 'það'.

The same logic carries into the plural. "They" is not one word but three: þeir for a masculine (or all-male) group, þær for a feminine (or all-female) group, and þau for a neuter group or any mixed group of people.

Strákarnir eru úti. Þeir spila fótbolta.

The boys are outside. They are playing football. An all-male group → 'þeir'.

Stelpurnar komu. Þær eru í eldhúsinu.

The girls arrived. They are in the kitchen. An all-female group → 'þær'.

Anna og Jón eru gift. Þau búa í Reykjavík.

Anna and Jón are married. They live in Reykjavík. A mixed group (a woman and a man) → 'þau'.

That last case is the crucial one for everyday talk: any group containing both men and women is þau. So a couple, a family, a class of mixed pupils — all are þau. This is why þau is, in practice, the "they" you reach for most often when talking about people in general.

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"It" and "they" are not single words. "It" = hann / hún / það by the noun's gender; "they" = þeir (masc.) / þær (fem.) / þau (neuter or any mixed group). A man-and-woman pair is always þau.

Common Mistakes

❌ Tala íslensku. (meaning 'I speak Icelandic')

Incorrect — Icelandic is not pro-drop; the subject pronoun is required.

✅ Ég tala íslensku.

I speak Icelandic. Keep 'ég'.

❌ Searching for a polite 'you' to use with a stranger or boss.

Incorrect — modern Icelandic has no everyday polite 'you'; 'þú' is universal.

✅ Hvað heitir þú?

What's your name? 'þú' to anyone.

❌ Using 'það' for every 'it' (e.g. 'bíllinn ... það er nýr').

Incorrect — a masculine noun like 'bíll' is referred to with 'hann', not 'það'.

✅ Bíllinn ... hann er nýr.

The car ... it is new. Masculine noun → 'hann'.

❌ Using one word 'þeir' for every 'they', including a mixed group.

Incorrect — 'þeir' is masculine only; a mixed group is 'þau'.

✅ Anna og Jón ... þau búa hér.

Anna and Jón ... they live here. Mixed group → 'þau'.

❌ Writing 'eg', 'thu', 'thau' without the accents and þ.

Incorrect — the forms are 'ég', 'þú', 'þau'; the accent and þ are part of the word.

✅ ég, þú, þau

I, you, they. Accents and þ are obligatory.

Key Takeaways

The subject pronouns: ég, þú, hann, hún, það (sg.) and við, þið, þeir/þær/þau (pl.).
Icelandic is not pro-drop — keep the subject pronoun (ég tala, not bare tala).
There is one "you": þú to everyone (no polite form); the only choice is þú (one) vs þið (several).
"It" carries gender: hann / hún / það by the referring noun's grammatical gender, not by animacy.
"They" is three words: þeir (masc.), þær (fem.), þau (neuter or any mixed group) — a man-and-woman group is always þau.

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