skína ("to shine") is a strong Class 1 verb, and it runs on exactly the same vowel series as the model verb bíta: í – ei – i – i. Present skín, preterite singular skein, preterite plural skinu, supine skinið. If you have already learned bíta (bít – beit – bitu – bitið) or líta (lít – leit – litu – litið), you already know how skína moves; only the consonants differ. The one thing to keep separate is its semantics: skína is intransitive — it has no object. The sun shines, the moon shines, a lamp shines; nothing "gets shone." This page gives the full paradigm, anchors the weather/light meaning, and drills the irregular preterite vowel that English speakers tend to flatten.
Conjugation
Class: strong, Class 1 (the í–ei–i–i series). Transitivity: intransitive — no accusative object. Auxiliary: hafa — sólin hefur skinið allan daginn "the sun has shone all day." The stem vowel is the only moving part: present í, past singular ei, past plural and supine short i.
| Principal parts | |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | að skína |
| 1sg present | skín |
| 1sg past | skein |
| 3pl past | skinu |
| Supine | skinið |
| Person | Present (nútíð) | Past (þátíð) |
|---|---|---|
| ég | skín | skein |
| þú | skín | skeinst |
| hann / hún / það | skín | skein |
| við | skínum | skinum |
| þið | skínið | skinuð |
| þeir / þær / þau | skína | skinu |
The 2sg past skeinst is the regular Class-1 outcome: the past-singular stem skein + the 2sg ending -st, which simply attaches to the diphthong (no t to swallow, so nothing else changes). Compare bíta → beist, where the t of beit fuses with the -st. You will rarely produce skeinst, because the subject is almost never "you" — but recognise it.
| Person | Present subjunctive | Past subjunctive |
|---|---|---|
| ég | skíni | skini |
| þú | skínir | skinir |
| hann / hún / það | skíni | skini |
| við | skínum | skinum |
| þið | skínið | skinuð |
| þeir / þær / þau | skíni | skini |
| Non-finite & imperative | |
|---|---|
| Imperative (þú) | skíndu (rare — the subject is rarely a person) |
| Imperative (þið) | skínið! |
| Supine | skinið |
| Past participle (m/f/n) | skininn / skinin / skinið |
| Present participle | skínandi |
The vowel series: í – ei – i – i
This is the heart of the page. skína belongs to the same series as bíta, líta, grípa and the rest of Class 1: the í of the infinitive survives in the present, becomes the diphthong ei in the preterite singular, and shrinks to a short i in the preterite plural and the supine. Place skína in the family and the pattern is obvious — only the consonants move:
| Verb | Present (í) | Past sg. (ei) | Past pl. (i) | Supine (i) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| bíta (bite) | bít | beit | bitu | bitið |
| skína (shine) | skín | skein | skinu | skinið |
| líta (look) | lít | leit | litu | litið |
| grípa (grab) | gríp | greip | gripu | gripið |
Sólin skín loksins eftir margra daga rigningu.
The sun is finally shining after days of rain. (present 'skín')
Tunglið skein skært yfir firðinum alla nóttina.
The moon shone brightly over the fjord all night. (past singular 'skein')
Past plural and supine: the short i
As with every strong verb, the preterite singular and plural part ways, and here the gap is wide: ei in the singular versus a short i in the plural. "The stars shone all night" needs the plural skinu, not skeinu. The same short i shows up in the supine skinið, used in the perfect with hafa.
Stjörnurnar skinu skært þegar við gengum heim um nóttina.
The stars shone brightly as we walked home that night. (past plural 'skinu', not *skeinu)
Það hefur varla skinið sól í allan mánuðinn.
The sun has hardly shone at all this whole month. (supine 'skinið' with hafa)
Weather and light: the natural home of skína
In practice skína lives in the weather report and the description of light. The sun skín, the moon skín, a lamp or a screen can skína, and metaphorically eyes or a face can skína (shine with joy). The Icelandic weather idiom það er sól "it's sunny" coexists with the more vivid sólin skín. Because the verb is intransitive, the light source is always the subject, never the object — there is no "to shine a light on something" with bare skína; for that you would use lýsa "illuminate" or beina ljósi að "direct light at."
Það var bjart og fallegt veður, sólin skein og ekki ský á himni.
It was bright, lovely weather — the sun was shining and not a cloud in the sky. (intransitive, sun as subject)
Andlitið á henni skein af gleði þegar hún heyrði fréttirnar.
Her face shone with joy when she heard the news. (figurative use, still intransitive)
Common Mistakes
❌ Sólin skínaði allan daginn.
Incorrect — skína is strong Class 1, not weak; there is no '-aði'. The past is 'skein'.
✅ Sólin skein allan daginn.
The sun shone all day.
❌ Stjörnurnar skeinu um nóttina.
Incorrect — the past PLURAL has short i: 'skinu', not 'skeinu' (that mixes in the singular diphthong).
✅ Stjörnurnar skinu um nóttina.
The stars shone in the night.
❌ Það hefur skeinið mikið í dag.
Incorrect — the supine has short i: 'skinið', not 'skeinið'.
✅ Það hefur skinið mikið í dag.
It's been very sunny today.
❌ Hann skein vasaljósinu á vegginn.
Incorrect — skína is intransitive; you can't 'shine a torch on' something with it. Use lýsa / beina ljósinu.
✅ Hann lýsti með vasaljósinu á vegginn.
He shone a torch on the wall.
Key Takeaways
- skín / skein / skinu / skinið — a strong Class-1 verb on the í – ei – i – i series, identical in shape to bíta, líta and grípa.
- It is intransitive: the light source is the subject (sólin skín), and there is no object — you do not skína a light onto something.
- Watch the past plural and supine short i (skinu, skinið), never skeinu / skeinið.
- Its natural home is weather and light: the sun, the moon, the stars, and figuratively a shining face or eyes.
- Auxiliary is hafa: sólin hefur skinið.
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