passa is one of those small, indispensable verbs that does an enormous amount of everyday work. A loanword that settled deep into colloquial Icelandic, it covers a cluster of meanings that English splits across several words: clothes that fit, plans that work out, looking after children, being careful, and confirming that something is right. The trick to passa is not its conjugation — it's a perfectly regular weak Class-1 verb, the -aði family of tala — but learning which sense pairs with which structure (a bare object, upp á, the reflexive sig, or the impersonal það passar). Watch the u-umlaut: a → ö in pössum and the past plural.
Conjugation
Class: weak, Class 1 (the -aði preterite). Auxiliary: hafa — ég hef passað "I have looked after / it has fit."
| Principal parts | |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | að passa |
| 3sg present | passar |
| 3sg past | passaði |
| Supine | passað |
| Person | Present (nútíð) | Past (þátíð) |
|---|---|---|
| ég | passa | passaði |
| þú | passar | passaðir |
| hann / hún / það | passar | passaði |
| við | pössum | pössuðum |
| þið | passið | pössuðuð |
| þeir / þær / þau | passa | pössuðu |
| Person | Present subjunctive | Past subjunctive |
|---|---|---|
| ég | passi | passaði |
| þú | passir | passaðir |
| hann / hún / það | passi | passaði |
| við | pössum | pössuðum |
| þið | passið | pössuðuð |
| þeir / þær / þau | passi | pössuðu |
| Non-finite & imperative | |
|---|---|
| Imperative (þú) | passaðu! |
| Imperative (þið) | passið! |
| Supine | passað |
| Past participle (m/f/n) | passaður / pössuð / passað |
Sense 1: passa = "fit" (clothes, timing, plans)
With no object, or with an impersonal subject, passa means something fits or works out — a garment fits the body, a time fits the schedule.
Þessar buxur passa fullkomlega.
These trousers fit perfectly.
Hentar þér klukkan þrjú? — Já, það passar vel.
Does three o'clock suit you? — Yes, that works well.
Sense 2: passa + accusative = "look after / mind / babysit"
With a direct accusative object, passa means to take care of, mind, or babysit someone or something.
Geturðu passað börnin á föstudaginn?
Can you look after the kids on Friday?
Ég passaði hundinn hans á meðan hann var í fríi.
I looked after his dog while he was on holiday.
Sense 3: passa upp á = "take care of / keep safe / make sure"
The phrasal passa upp á + accusative sharpens the meaning to "guard, keep safe, make sure of" — a notch more deliberate than the bare verb.
Passaðu upp á símann þinn í mannþrönginni.
Keep an eye on your phone in the crowd.
Við pössum vel upp á að allir komist heim heilir.
We make sure everyone gets home safely.
Sense 4: passa sig = "be careful / watch oneself" (reflexive)
With the reflexive sig (or mig, þig…), passa means "to be careful, watch out." This is one of the most common things you'll hear shouted across an Icelandic playground.
Passaðu þig á hálkunni, það er glerhált úti!
Watch out for the ice, it's slippery out there!
Ég verð að passa mig á því sem ég segi við hann.
I have to be careful about what I say to him.
Sense 5: það passar = "that's right / that fits"
The impersonal það passar is an everyday way to confirm that something is correct or adds up — a figure, a fact, an arrangement.
Reikningurinn er 3.500 krónur. — Já, það passar.
The bill is 3,500 krónur. — Yes, that's right.
Það passar ekki að hún sé bara tvítug.
It can't be right that she's only twenty.
passa við — "match / go with"
To say one thing matches or goes well with another, use passa við + accusative.
Þessi skór passa vel við kjólinn.
These shoes go well with the dress.
Common Mistakes
❌ Við passum börnin á kvöldin.
Incorrect — the -um ending forces u-umlaut: a becomes ö
✅ Við pössum börnin á kvöldin.
We look after the kids in the evenings.
❌ Þau passaðu hundinn alla helgina.
Incorrect — the 3pl past also takes u-umlaut: pössuðu
✅ Þau pössuðu hundinn alla helgina.
They looked after the dog all weekend.
❌ Passaðu á hálkunni!
Incomplete — 'be careful' is reflexive: it needs sig/þig
✅ Passaðu þig á hálkunni!
Watch out for the ice!
❌ Þessir skór passa með kjólnum.
Incorrect preposition — 'match/go with' is passa við + accusative, not passa með
✅ Þessir skór passa við kjólinn.
These shoes go with the dress.
Key Takeaways
- passa / passar / passaði / passað — a weak Class-1 verb (the regular -aði past), same shape as tala.
- u-umlaut: a → ö before any -u- ending — við pössum, past plural p*össuðum / pö*ssuðu.
- The senses map to structures: passa = fit; passa + acc = look after / babysit; passa upp á + acc = keep safe / make sure; passa sig (reflexive) = be careful; það passar = that's right; passa við + acc = match.
- Auxiliary is hafa: ég hef passað.
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- U-Umlaut as a Sound Alternation (a → ö)A2 — When a u appears (or once appeared) in the next syllable, a stem 'a' is rounded to 'ö' — barn → börn, dagur → dögum, kalla → köllum. This is the living u-umlaut (u-hljóðvarp), an automatic, predictable rounding that explains why so many Icelandic paradigms 'change their vowel'.