njóta ("to enjoy; to benefit from") is a strong verb of Class 2, and it is doubly worth a dedicated page: it carries the same present-singular i-umlaut as its class-mates (so "I enjoy" is nýt, not *njót), and it governs the genitive — a rarity in Icelandic, where most transitive verbs take the accusative. You don't enjoy something (accusative); you enjoy of something — njóta einhvers — and that genitive is obligatory. So "enjoy life" is njóta lífsins (genitive lífsins), never *njóta lífið. This page gives the full Class-2 paradigm — running on the jú – au – u – o series shared with bjóða and fljúga — and drills the genitive object that sets njóta apart.
Conjugation
Class: strong, Class 2 (the jú – au – u – o series). Auxiliary: hafa — ég hef notið "I have enjoyed." Object case: genitive (njóta einhvers "enjoy something"). ⭐ This is the headline feature — keep it in front of you for the whole page.
| Principal parts | |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | að njóta |
| 1sg present | nýt |
| 1sg past | naut |
| 3pl past | nutu |
| Supine | notið |
| Person | Present (nútíð) | Past (þátíð) |
|---|---|---|
| ég | nýt | naut |
| þú | nýtur | naust |
| hann / hún / það | nýtur | naut |
| við | njótum | nutum |
| þið | njótið | nutuð |
| þeir / þær / þau | njóta | nutu |
| Person | Present subjunctive | Past subjunctive |
|---|---|---|
| ég | njóti | nyti |
| þú | njótir | nytir |
| hann / hún / það | njóti | nyti |
| við | njótum | nytum |
| þið | njótið | nytuð |
| þeir / þær / þau | njóti | nytu |
| Non-finite & imperative | |
|---|---|
| Imperative (þú) | njóttu! |
| Imperative (þið) | njótið! |
| Supine | notið |
| Past participle (m/f/n) | notinn / notin / notið (rare; mostly impersonal/supine) |
| Present participle | njótandi |
| Middle voice (miðmynd) | njótast — "to be enjoyed; to come into one's own" (e.g. það naut sín vel) |
The headline feature: njóta + genitive
This is what makes njóta special. The overwhelming default for an Icelandic transitive verb is the accusative object, so a learner's reflex is to put "the thing enjoyed" in the accusative. But njóta belongs to the small, closed set of verbs that govern the genitive (alongside sakna "miss," bíða "wait for," óska "wish," gæta "mind/guard," krefjast "demand," neyta "consume"). You enjoy of something:
- njóta lífsins — "enjoy life" (genitive of lífið)
- njóta sólarinnar — "enjoy the sun" (genitive of sólin)
- njóta náttúrunnar — "enjoy nature"
- njóta stuðnings — "enjoy / have support" (genitive of stuðningur)
- njóta sín — "be in one's element, come into one's own" (genitive of the reflexive sig)
There is no logical shortcut linking "enjoy" to the genitive — it is a lexical fact about this verb that you simply have to memorise, and it is exactly the point of learning njóta on its own page. Anchor it with one phrase you will say often: njóta lífsins, "enjoy life."
Njóttu lífsins meðan þú getur!
Enjoy life while you can! Imperative 'njóttu' + genitive 'lífsins' (enjoy OF life).
Við nutum sólarinnar í allan dag á Þingvöllum.
We enjoyed the sun all day at Þingvellir. Past plural 'nutum' + genitive 'sólarinnar'.
Ég nýt þess virkilega að vakna án vekjaraklukku.
I really enjoy waking up without an alarm clock. Present singular 'nýt' + genitive 'þess' (of that), pointing to the að-clause.
njóta góðs af — 'benefit from'
A high-frequency idiom worth knowing as a unit: njóta góðs af ("benefit from, gain from") — literally "enjoy good of." Here góðs is the genitive of the neuter adjective gott, and af + dative names the source. The broader sense of njóta shades from "take pleasure in" toward plain "benefit from / have the advantage of," which is why it shows up so often in formal and journalistic writing (njóta stuðnings, njóta verndar, njóta trausts — "enjoy support / protection / trust").
Lítil fyrirtæki njóta góðs af nýju skattalögunum.
Small businesses benefit from the new tax laws. Idiom 'njóta góðs af' + dative source 'nýju skattalögunum'. (journalistic register)
Verkefnið naut stuðnings frá borginni frá fyrsta degi.
The project enjoyed the city's support from day one. Past singular 'naut' + genitive 'stuðnings'. (formal)
The present-singular i-umlaut and the past
Like every Class-2 verb, njóta fronts the stem vowel in the present singular (jú → ý): ég nýt, þú nýtur, hann nýtur — but restores jú in the plural: við njótum, þið njótið, þeir njóta. The preterite splits au (singular naut) against short u (plural nutu), and the supine drops to o: notið. So "I enjoy" is nýt, "we enjoy" is njótum, "she enjoyed" is naut, "they enjoyed" is nutu, "I have enjoyed" is hef notið — the full jú–au–u–o series, identical in shape to bjóða (býð, bauð, buðu, boðið) and fljúga (flýg, flaug, flugu, flogið).
Ég nýt þess að ganga ein í fjörunni á morgnana.
I enjoy walking alone on the beach in the mornings. Present singular 'nýt' (fronted ý) + genitive 'þess'.
Hann naut hverrar mínútu á tónleikunum.
He enjoyed every minute of the concert. Past singular 'naut' + genitive 'hverrar mínútu'.
Common Mistakes
❌ Ég nýt lífið til fulls.
Incorrect — 'njóta' governs the GENITIVE, not the accusative: it's 'lífsins', not 'lífið'.
✅ Ég nýt lífsins til fulls.
I enjoy life to the full. Genitive object 'lífsins'.
❌ Þau njóta góðan mat og gott vín.
Incorrect — the objects must be GENITIVE after njóta: 'góðs matar og góðs víns'.
✅ Þau njóta góðs matar og góðs víns.
They enjoy good food and good wine. Genitive throughout.
❌ Ég njót sólarinnar.
Incorrect — the present singular fronts the vowel: 'nýt', not '*njót'. The plain jú survives only in the plural (njótum).
✅ Ég nýt sólarinnar.
I'm enjoying the sun. Present singular 'nýt' (i-umlaut ý) + genitive 'sólarinnar'.
❌ Við nautum dagsins saman.
Incorrect — the past PLURAL takes short u, not the singular au: it's 'nutum', not '*nautum'.
✅ Við nutum dagsins saman.
We enjoyed the day together. Past plural 'nutum' + genitive 'dagsins'.
❌ Hún hefur alltaf nýtið góðs af því.
Incorrect — the supine is 'notið' (o vowel), not '*nýtið'; and the idiom is 'njóta góðs af'.
✅ Hún hefur alltaf notið góðs af því.
She has always benefited from it. Supine 'notið' + genitive idiom 'góðs af'.
Key Takeaways
- njóta governs the GENITIVE: njóta lífsins, njóta sólarinnar, njóta stuðnings — never the accusative *njóta lífið. This is the one fact to over-learn.
- nýt / nýtur (present sg., i-umlaut ý), njótum / njótið / njóta (present pl., keeps jú); past naut (sg.) / nutu (pl.); supine notið.
- The class series is jú – au – u – o, shared with bjóða, fljúga, ljúga — same shape, different consonants.
- Key idioms: njóta góðs af ("benefit from," + af
- dative), njóta sín ("be in one's element," genitive of sig).
- Auxiliary is hafa (ég hef notið); register tilts formal in the "benefit/enjoy support" sense (njóta stuðnings, njóta trausts).
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