detta ("to fall, to drop") is the everyday verb for losing your footing, dropping your phone, or — figuratively — for ideas that "drop into your head." It is a strong Class-3 verb with the vowel run e–a–u, and because falling is a change of state and place, its perfect is built with vera: ég er dottinn "I've fallen / I fell." Two things make it worth a careful look: the preaspirated -tt- in the spelling, and the wonderful dative idiom mér datt í hug "it occurred to me."
Conjugation
Class: strong, Class 3 (ablaut stem dett–datt–duttu, supine dottið). Auxiliary: vera (change of state): ég er dottinn "I have fallen."
| Principal parts | |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | að detta |
| 3sg present | dettur |
| 3sg past | datt |
| Supine | dottið |
| Person | Present (nútíð) | Past (þátíð) |
|---|---|---|
| ég | dett | datt |
| þú | dettur | dast |
| hann / hún / það | dettur | datt |
| við | dettum | duttum |
| þið | dettið | duttuð |
| þeir / þær / þau | detta | duttu |
| Person | Present subjunctive | Past subjunctive |
|---|---|---|
| ég | detti | dytti |
| þú | dettir | dyttir |
| hann / hún / það | detti | dytti |
| við | dettum | dyttum |
| þið | dettið | dyttuð |
| þeir / þær / þau | detti | dyttu |
| Non-finite & imperative | |
|---|---|
| Imperative (þú) | dett! / dettu (with attached pronoun) |
| Imperative (þið) | dettið! |
| Supine | dottið |
| Past participle (m/f/n) | dottinn / dottin / dottið |
| Middle voice (miðmynd) | — (no everyday -st form) |
Preaspiration: how -tt- is pronounced
The double -tt- in detta, datt, dottið is not just a long consonant — it is preaspirated. Before you close the t, you push out a little puff of h: detta sounds roughly like "DEH-hta," datt like "DAHt" with an audible breath before the stop. This preaspiration is one of the most distinctive sounds of Icelandic, and you will hear the exact same effect in vatn ("water"), nótt ("night"), and epli ("apple"). It is regular wherever you see pp, tt, kk before a vowel or -l-/-n-.
Passaðu þig, það er hált — fólk er alltaf að detta hérna.
Watch out, it's slippery — people are always falling here.
Síminn datt í gólfið og skjárinn brotnaði.
The phone fell on the floor and the screen broke.
Hún datt á svellinu en meiddi sig ekki.
She fell on the ice but didn't hurt herself.
The vera-perfect: ég er dottinn
Because falling is a change of state, detta forms its perfect with vera, and the participle agrees with the subject: ég er dottinn (a man), ég er dottin (a woman), þau eru dottin (a mixed group). This is the same pattern as motion verbs like koma and fara.
Krakkinn er dottinn og grætur.
The kid has fallen down and is crying.
Ertu dottin? Réttu mér höndina.
Have you fallen? Give me your hand. (to a woman)
detta niður — "fall down" / detta af — "fall off"
A directional particle pins down where the falling goes: detta niður "fall down," detta af "fall off," detta út "drop out." These are everyday and very productive.
Myndin datt niður af veggnum í nótt.
The picture fell down off the wall last night.
detta í hug — "it occurs to me" (dative subject)
Here is the idiom worth memorising. detta í hug literally means "to fall into (someone's) mind," and the person it occurs to goes in the dative: mér datt í hug "it occurred to me." The verb agrees with the idea, not the person — exactly the experiencer pattern you meet with finnast and langa.
Mér datt í hug að bjóða þeim í mat.
It occurred to me to invite them for dinner.
Datt þér aldrei í hug að hringja?
Did it never occur to you to call?
Common Mistakes
❌ Ég dettaði í gær.
Incorrect — detta is strong, not weak; the past is datt, never a -aði form
✅ Ég datt í gær.
I fell yesterday.
❌ Ég hef dottið.
Incorrect — as a change-of-state verb, detta takes vera + an agreeing participle
✅ Ég er dottinn.
I've fallen. (said by a man)
❌ Við dettum á svellinu í fyrra.
Incorrect — that is the present 'we fall'; the past plural has the u-vowel: duttum
✅ Við duttum á svellinu í fyrra.
We fell on the ice last year.
❌ Ég datt í hug að fara.
Incorrect — in this idiom the experiencer is dative (mér), not nominative (ég)
✅ Mér datt í hug að fara.
It occurred to me to go.
Key Takeaways
- detta / dettur / datt / dottið — strong Class 3, vowels e–a–u–o (dett–datt–duttum–dottið).
- The double -tt- is preaspirated: a soft h puff precedes the stop.
- Perfect of falling uses vera with an agreeing participle: ég er dottinn / dottin.
- detta í hug
- dative = "it occurs to (someone)": mér datt í hug.
- Directional particles: detta niður (down), detta af (off), detta út (drop out).
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- Preaspiration: hp, ht, hk and pp, tt, kkA2 — Icelandic's signature sound: a puff of breath that comes BEFORE the stops written pp, tt, kk (and clusters like pn, tn, kn) — so epli is [ˈɛhplɪ] and nótt is [nouht]. The h falls before the stop, the mirror image of English aspiration, and it is one of the rarest features in the world's languages.