sjá ("to see") is short, ancient, and gloriously irregular — its forms barely look related to one another (sé, sá, sáum, séð). You cannot reason your way to them; you memorise them. The good news is that sjá is so common that the forms stick fast, and two of them are everyday set phrases: the goodbye Sjáumst! ("see you!") and the imperative sjáðu ("look!"). Learn sjá as a small package of irregular forms rather than trying to derive it, and it quickly becomes automatic.
Conjugation
Class: strong, class 5 (highly irregular; the j surfaces in the infinitive, 1pl and 3pl present). Auxiliary: hafa — ég hef séð "I have seen."
| Principal parts | |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | að sjá |
| 3sg present | sér |
| 3sg past | sá |
| Supine | séð |
| Person | Present (nútíð) | Past (þátíð) |
|---|---|---|
| ég | sé | sá |
| þú | sérð | sást |
| hann / hún / það | sér | sá |
| við | sjáum | sáum |
| þið | sjáið | sáuð |
| þeir / þær / þau | sjá | sáu |
| Person | Present subjunctive | Past subjunctive |
|---|---|---|
| ég | sjái | sæi |
| þú | sjáir | sæir |
| hann / hún / það | sjái | sæi |
| við | sjáum | sæjum |
| þið | sjáið | sæjuð |
| þeir / þær / þau | sjái | sæju |
| Non-finite & imperative | |
|---|---|
| Imperative (þú) | sjá! / sjáðu (with attached pronoun) |
| Imperative (þið) | sjáið! |
| Supine | séð |
| Past participle (m/f/n) | séður / séð / séð |
| Middle voice (miðmynd) | sjást ("be visible"); 1pl sjáumst ("see each other / see you!") |
The four irregular vowels
The principal parts are sé (present), sá (past singular), sáu (past plural), séð (supine). Notice how little they share — the present has é, the past has á, the supine has é again with a -ð. The j of the infinitive shows up only where the ending begins with a vowel that needs it: sjá, sjáum, sjáið, sjá. The singular present loses the j entirely: sé, sérð, sér. There is no shortcut — these six forms are simply learned by heart, and because sjá is so frequent, they will be among the first irregular forms you own completely.
Sérðu fjöllin þarna í fjarska?
Do you see the mountains over there in the distance?
Ég sé ekki neitt án gleraugnanna.
I can't see anything without my glasses.
Hún sá þig á kaffihúsinu í gær.
She saw you at the café yesterday.
What you see goes in the accusative
The thing seen is a direct object in the accusative: ég sé þig ("I see you", þig accusative), ég sé bílinn ("I see the car"). This matters because the accusative pronouns differ from the nominative — ég sé hana not "ég sé hún".
Ég sá hana ekki, það var of dimmt.
I didn't see her, it was too dark.
Hafið þið séð myndina sem allir tala um?
Have you (pl.) seen the film everyone's talking about?
Sjáumst! and sjá um
The middle-voice first-person plural Sjáumst! is the standard casual goodbye — literally "we'll see each other", used exactly like English "see you!" or "see you around!". Separately, sjá um + accusative means "to take care of / be in charge of" something — a fixed phrasal meaning you won't guess from "see".
Takk fyrir mig, sjáumst á morgun!
Thanks for having me, see you tomorrow!
Hver sér um matinn í kvöld?
Who's taking care of the food tonight?
Ekki hafa áhyggjur, ég sé um þetta.
Don't worry, I'll take care of this.
Common Mistakes
❌ Ég sjá þig á morgun.
Incorrect — sjá is the infinitive/plural; the 1sg present is sé
✅ Ég sé þig á morgun.
I'll see you tomorrow.
❌ Sérð þú fjöllin?
Understandable, but the þú normally fuses into the verb: sérðu
✅ Sérðu fjöllin?
Do you see the mountains?
❌ Ég sáði hann í gær.
Incorrect — the past of sjá is sá, not a regular '-ði' form
✅ Ég sá hann í gær.
I saw him yesterday.
❌ Sjámst á morgun!
Incorrect — the form keeps the j and the u: sjáumst
✅ Sjáumst á morgun!
See you tomorrow!
Key Takeaways
- sjá / sé / sá / séð — strong and very irregular; learn the six present and six past forms as a memorised set.
- Present: sé / sérð / sér / sjáum / sjáið / sjá; past: sá / sást / sá / sáum / sáuð / sáu.
- The object you see is accusative: ég sé hana, ég sé bílinn.
- Sjáumst! = "see you!"; sjáðu = "look!"; sjá um
- acc. = "take care of".
Now practice Icelandic
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Start learning Icelandic→Related Topics
- sjá (to see)A2 — Full A2 conjugation of the strong contracted verb sjá (sé / sá / sáu / séð), with the tricky present sé/sérð/sér, the preterite sá/sáu, the middle voice sjást 'be visible / see each other', and the idioms sjá um, sjá fyrir, and sjáumst.
- Greetings, Openers, and ClosingsA2 — The formulae that frame an Icelandic conversation — gender-agreeing greetings (sæll to a man, sæl to a woman), the how-are-you ritual (Hvað segirðu gott? — Allt fínt), the attention-getter heyrðu, and leave-takings (bless, sjáumst, hafðu það gott).
- The Present Tense: First VerbsA1 — Your survival kit of present-tense verbs — vera, tala, eiga, koma, fara — with the core endings -∅/-r/-r and the single most freeing A1 fact: the present already means both 'I speak' and 'I am speaking', so there is no progressive to hunt for.