gráta ("to cry, weep") is a strong Class-7 verb — one of the old reduplicating verbs whose past is marked by a long é — and it sits right next to falla, halda and láta in that family. The whole class shares one shape: the stem vowel stays put in the infinitive and supine, the preterite takes a long é that is identical in singular and plural (grét = grét-u), and there is no short-vowel plural to track. What makes gráta its own puzzle is the present singular, where the long á of the infinitive fronts by i-umlaut to æ: ég græt, hún grætur — never *grát. So you must hold three vowels in mind at once: á in the infinitive and supine (gráta, grátið), æ in the present singular (græt), and é in the whole preterite (grét, grétu). Beyond the paradigm, gráta takes the preposition yfir ("weep over") and a striking cognate/manner object in the dative — gráta beiskum tárum ("weep bitter tears"), where tárum is dative.
Conjugation
Class: strong, Class 7 (the reduplicating remnant), series á – é – é – á. Auxiliary: hafa — ég hef grátið "I have cried." Note the present-singular i-umlaut á → æ (græt, grætur) and the long é running through the entire preterite.
| Principal parts | |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | að gráta |
| 1sg present | græt |
| 1sg past | grét |
| 3pl past | grétu |
| Supine | grátið |
| Person | Present (nútíð) | Past (þátíð) |
|---|---|---|
| ég | græt | grét |
| þú | grætur | grést |
| hann / hún / það | grætur | grét |
| við | grátum | grétum |
| þið | grátið | grétuð |
| þeir / þær / þau | gráta | grétu |
| Person | Present subjunctive | Past subjunctive |
|---|---|---|
| ég | gráti | græti |
| þú | grátir | grætir |
| hann / hún / það | gráti | græti |
| við | grátum | grætum |
| þið | grátið | grætuð |
| þeir / þær / þau | gráti | grætu |
| Non-finite & imperative | |
|---|---|
| Imperative (þú) | grát / gráttu |
| Imperative (þið) | grátið! |
| Supine | grátið |
| Past participle (m/f/n) | grátinn / grátin / grátið |
| Present participle | grátandi |
| Middle voice (miðmynd) | grátast — chiefly impersonal/poetic; e-m grætur set phrases |
The Class-7 family: the é-preterite, same in singular and plural
Class 7 is the reduplicating remnant: its verbs once formed the past by repeating the initial consonant, and Old Norse collapsed that into a long é. The practical upshot is a clean shape — the preterite is a long é in both numbers (grét, grétu), and the supine returns to the infinitive's vowel (grátið). Lay gráta beside its classmates and the rhythm is identical:
| Verb | Pres. sg. | Past sg. | Past pl. | Supine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| falla (fall) | fell | féll | féllu | fallið |
| halda (hold) | held | hélt | héldu | haldið |
| láta (let) | læt | lét | létu | látið |
| gráta (cry) | græt | grét | grétu | grátið |
Notice that gráta and láta even share the present-singular fronting (láta → læt, gráta → græt): the long back vowel of the infinitive fronts to æ in the present singular. The whole class is "the é-preterite club" — if a common verb's past sounds like a long é, it is one of these.
Barnið grét alla leiðina heim í bílnum.
The child cried the whole way home in the car. Past singular grét (long é) — the Class-7 signature.
Þau grétu af gleði þegar þau sáu hana aftur.
They wept with joy when they saw her again. Past plural grétu — same é as the singular, no short-vowel plural.
Ég hef aldrei grátið svona mikið yfir bíómynd.
I've never cried this much over a film. Supine grátið (á-grade) in the perfect, with hafa; note gráta yfir.
Present forms: græt and grátum
The present is the trap, because the singular and plural use different vowels.
- Singular: á → æ (i-umlaut). ég græt, þú grætur, hann/hún/það grætur. The long á of gráta fronts to æ. Never *grát / *grátur for the singular.
- Plural: keeps á. við grátum, þið grátið, þeir gráta. No umlaut here — and note that grátum with á (present) contrasts with grétum with é (past). That one-vowel difference is the whole tense distinction in the 1pl.
So the present 1sg and the infinitive look different (græt vs gráta), while the present 1pl and the infinitive share the á. This mirrors láta exactly: læt (1sg) but látum (1pl).
Ég græt alltaf í brúðkaupum, ég ræð ekkert við það.
I always cry at weddings, I just can't help it. Present singular græt (á→æ), habitual present.
Af hverju grátið þið? Gerðist eitthvað?
Why are you (pl.) crying? Did something happen? Present 2pl grátið (keeps á); contrast the singular grætur.
Constructions: gráta yfir, and the cognate object
gráta is usually intransitive — "to cry, weep" — but it heads a few useful patterns.
gráta yfir + dative — "weep over / cry about (something)." The thing wept over follows yfir in the dative: gráta yfir örlögum sínum ("weep over one's fate"). There is also gráta einhvern ("mourn/weep for someone," with an accusative person, more literary).
The cognate/manner object. gráta can take a manner object describing the weeping itself, classically in the dative: gráta beiskum tárum ("weep bitter tears," literally "cry with bitter tears" — tárum dative, an instrumental dative of the tears), or gráta sárt ("cry bitterly," with an adverb). This is a literary, slightly elevated turn of phrase, but it is alive in fixed expressions and worth recognising. The same verb can govern an accusative when the object is a true direct object (gráta einhvern "mourn someone").
Hún grét yfir gömlu bréfunum langt fram á nótt.
She wept over the old letters far into the night. gráta yfir + dative (bréfunum); past singular grét.
Hann grét beiskum tárum þegar allt var um seinan.
He wept bitter tears when it was all too late. Cognate/manner object in the DATIVE (beiskum tárum); a literary, elevated register.
The middle voice: grátast
The -st middle grátast is rare and mostly poetic or impersonal; everyday "cry" stays in the active gráta. You will mainly meet it in fixed or literary contexts. It conjugates as gráta + -st: present grætst, past grétst, supine grátist. For ordinary speech, just use the active.
Það er eins og manni grátist betur þegar enginn sér til.
It's as if one weeps more easily when no one is watching. Impersonal middle grátast — literary/reflective register; for normal speech use active gráta.
Common Mistakes
❌ Ég grát alltaf í bíó.
Wrong present vowel — the present singular has i-umlaut á→æ: græt, not the infinitive-vowel *grát.
✅ Ég græt alltaf í bíó.
I always cry at the cinema. (present singular græt, á→æ)
The present singular is græt / grætur with æ, never *grát / *grátur. This is the i-umlaut that also gives láta → læt.
❌ Barnið grátaði alla nóttina.
Regularising a strong verb — gráta has no weak '-aði' past. The past is the strong é-form grét.
✅ Barnið grét alla nóttina.
The child cried all night. (strong past singular grét)
gráta is strong Class 7: past grét / grétu, supine grátið. No *grátaði.
❌ Þau gratu af gleði.
Wrong past vowel — the preterite plural keeps the long é: grétu, not the short *gratu (and never the infinitive á).
✅ Þau grétu af gleði.
They wept with joy. (past plural grétu, long é)
The whole preterite is long é, singular and plural alike: grét, grétu. There is no short-vowel plural and no á in the past.
❌ Við grétum saman á hverjum sunnudegi. (= present)
Tense slip — grétum is PAST ('we cried'); the present 1pl is grátum (with á).
✅ Við grátum saman þegar við horfum á þættina.
We cry together when we watch the series. (present 1pl grátum, á); past would be grétum (é).
In the 1pl the only difference between present and past is the vowel: present grátum (á), past grétum (é). Mixing them up is the classic tense slip.
❌ Ég hef grétið yfir þessu nógu lengi.
Wrong supine — the supine returns to á: grátið, not the é-form *grétið. The é belongs to the preterite only.
✅ Ég hef grátið yfir þessu nógu lengi.
I've cried over this long enough. (supine grátið, á-grade)
The supine restores the á (grátið, participle grátinn / grátin / grátið). Don't carry the preterite é into the perfect.
Key Takeaways
- gráta is strong Class 7 (reduplicating, é-preterite), series á – é – é – á: principal parts græt – grét – grétu – grátið; auxiliary hafa.
- The preterite é is the same in singular and plural (grét = grétu) — no short-vowel plural, exactly like falla → féll / féllu.
- The present singular has i-umlaut á → æ (græt, grætur, never *grát); the present plural keeps á (grátum). The supine restores á (grátið).
- Watch the 1pl minimal pair: present grátum (á) vs past grétum (é).
- Constructions: gráta yfir
- dative ("weep over"), the literary cognate/manner dative gráta beiskum tárum ("weep bitter tears"), and gráta einhvern ("mourn someone," accusative). gráta sits in the same é-preterite family as halda, láta and falla.
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