liggja (to lie / be situated) | Icelandic Grammar

liggja means "to lie" — to be in a reclining position, or for an object to be situated somewhere. Like its cousin sitja, it names a state, not the act of getting into it, and it is strictly intransitive: a thing lies; you do not "lie something." Its dangerous twin is leggja ("to lay, put down"), which is transitive and weak — exactly the English lie / lay confusion, except Icelandic keeps the two stems even further apart. liggja is a strong j-verb with the vowel walk i → á → á → e (ligg / lá / lágum / legið).

Conjugation

Class: strong, class 5, j-verb (the j appears before a/u endings: liggja, liggjum). Auxiliary: hafa — ég hef legið "I have lain."

Principal parts
Infinitive	að liggja
3sg present	liggur
3sg past	lá
Supine	legið

Person	Present (nútíð)	Past (þátíð)
ég	ligg	lá
þú	liggur	lást
hann / hún / það	liggur	lá
við	liggjum	lágum
þið	liggið	láguð
þeir / þær / þau	liggja	lágu

Person	Present subjunctive	Past subjunctive
ég	liggi	lægi
þú	liggir	lægir
hann / hún / það	liggi	lægi
við	liggjum	lægjum
þið	liggið	lægjuð
þeir / þær / þau	liggi	lægju

Non-finite & imperative
Imperative (þú)	ligg! / liggðu (with attached pronoun)
Imperative (þið)	liggið!
Supine	legið
Past participle (m/f/n)	leginn / legin / legið
Middle voice (miðmynd)	leggjast ("lie down") — see below

💡

The four shapes are ligg (present), lá (past sing., a bare long vowel), lágum (past plural), legið (supine, with e). The double g belongs to the present and supine stems (ligg-, leg-); the past collapses to a single long á with no g at all: ég lá, hún lá. That bare lá is the most surprising form for learners — there is nothing left of the -gg-.

liggja is a state — something lies there

liggja covers both a person reclining and an object simply being situated somewhere — the way English uses "lie" for "the town lies in a valley." It is a posture or location, never the act of putting yourself or something down.

Bókin liggur á náttborðinu þínu.

The book is lying on your nightstand.

Reykjavík liggur við Faxaflóa.

Reykjavík lies on Faxaflói bay.

Ég lá uppi í rúmi allan daginn með kvef.

I lay in bed all day with a cold.

liggja vs leggja — lie vs lay, the master pair

This is the pair that defeats English speakers, because English itself struggles with it. liggja is intransitive and strong (lá): something lies. leggja is transitive and weak (lagði): you lay something down. If there is a direct object, you need leggja; if the subject simply is somewhere, you need liggja.

Ég legg bókina á borðið. → Bókin liggur á borðinu.

I lay the book on the table. → The book lies on the table.

And to express lying down — the change of posture — Icelandic uses the middle voice leggjast (literally leggja + reflexive -st, "lay oneself down"), not liggja:

Ég ætla að leggjast aðeins út af, ég er svo þreytt.

I'm going to lie down for a bit, I'm so tired.

það liggur á — the quirky "it's urgent"

A very common idiom: það liggur á ("there is haste on it") means "it's urgent, we're in a hurry." It has no logical subject — það is a placeholder — and it is worth memorising as a chunk. Negate it for the everyday reassurance "there's no rush."

Taktu þér góðan tíma, það liggur ekkert á.

Take your time, there's no rush at all.

Af hverju ertu að flýta þér? Liggur eitthvað á?

Why are you rushing? Is something urgent?

liggja vel á + dative — to be in a good mood

Another quirky-subject idiom: það liggur vel á + dative means "(someone) is in a good mood." The person feeling the mood goes in the dative, with no nominative subject.

Það liggur vel á mér í dag — ég fékk góðar fréttir.

I'm in a good mood today — I got good news.

Common Mistakes

❌ Ég liggja peysuna á rúmið.

Incorrect — putting something down is the transitive leggja, not liggja

✅ Ég legg peysuna á rúmið.

I lay the jumper on the bed.

❌ Ég ligg niður smá stund.

Incorrect — lying down (a change of posture) is leggjast, not liggja

✅ Ég ætla að leggjast niður smá stund.

I'm going to lie down for a little while.

❌ Ég liggði í rúminu.

Incorrect — liggja is strong; the past is lá, not a regular weak *liggði

✅ Ég lá í rúminu.

I lay in bed.

❌ Ég hef liggið hér lengi.

Incorrect — the supine fronts to e: legið, not *liggið

✅ Ég hef legið hér lengi.

I've been lying here a long time.

Key Takeaways

liggja / ligg / lá / legið — strong class-5 j-verb; intransitive, a state ("lie, be situated").
The past loses the -gg- entirely: bare lá (sing.), lágum / lágu (plural); supine fronts to legið.
liggja (lie, strong, intrans.) vs leggja (lay, weak, trans., lagði) — exactly English lie/lay; leggjast = lie down.
það liggur á = "it's urgent"; það liggur ekkert á = "there's no rush."
það liggur vel á
- dative = "(someone) is in a good mood."

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