skreppa ("to pop out, nip, dash somewhere") is one of those small, high-frequency verbs that textbooks underrate and native speakers use a dozen times a day. It is the natural word for a quick, low-stakes trip — popping to the shop, nipping out for five minutes, dashing over to a friend's. Grammatically it is a strong Class-3 verb running on the classic e – a – u – o series: present skrepp, preterite singular skrapp, preterite plural skruppu, supine skroppið. The challenge for English speakers is twofold: not regularising it (the past is skrapp, never skreppaði), and learning to reach for it in the first place, because English has no single verb that means "go somewhere briefly and come straight back."
Conjugation
Class: strong, Class 3 (the e – a – u – o series). Auxiliary: hafa — ég hef skroppið "I have popped out." The signature of Class 3 is the a (sg.) vs u (pl.) split in the preterite: skrapp but skruppu. The supine settles on o: skroppið.
| Principal parts | |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | að skreppa |
| 1sg present | skrepp |
| 1sg past | skrapp |
| 3pl past | skruppu |
| Supine | skroppið |
| Person | Present (nútíð) | Past (þátíð) |
|---|---|---|
| ég | skrepp | skrapp |
| þú | skreppur | skrappst |
| hann / hún / það | skreppur | skrapp |
| við | skreppum | skruppum |
| þið | skreppið | skruppuð |
| þeir / þær / þau | skreppa | skruppu |
| Person | Present subjunctive | Past subjunctive |
|---|---|---|
| ég | skreppi | skryppi |
| þú | skreppir | skryppir |
| hann / hún / það | skreppi | skryppi |
| við | skreppum | skryppum |
| þið | skreppið | skryppuð |
| þeir / þær / þau | skreppi | skryppu |
| Non-finite & imperative | |
|---|---|
| Imperative (þú) | skrepptu! / skrepp þú |
| Imperative (þið) | skreppið! |
| Supine | skroppið |
| Past participle (m/f/n) | skroppinn / skroppin / skroppið |
| Present participle | skreppandi |
The Class-3 vowel series: e – a – u – o
skreppa is a textbook Class-3 verb, the same series as bresta "burst" and hrökkva "recoil." The present keeps the infinitive's e (skrepp, skreppur); the preterite splits a in the singular (skrapp) against u in the plural (skruppu); the supine and participle take o (skroppið, skroppinn). The double pp stays put throughout — it is part of the root, not a doubling rule — so don't strip it.
Ég skrepp aðeins út í búð, ég kem strax aftur.
I'm just popping out to the shop, I'll be right back. — present 'skrepp'; the textbook everyday use.
Hún skrapp á kaffihúsið á meðan við biðum.
She nipped over to the café while we waited. — preterite singular 'skrapp' (a).
The everyday use: skreppa út / í búð / frá
This is the heart of the verb. skreppa almost always pairs with a direction or destination and carries the nuance of brief and casual:
- skreppa út — pop out / step out (for a moment)
- skreppa í búð / í bankann / í apótekið — pop to the shop / bank / pharmacy
- skreppa heim — nip home
- skreppa frá — step away (from a desk, a meeting, a post)
- skreppa til [borgar] — take a quick trip to [a town/city]
The destination takes whatever case its preposition demands — *í búð*ina (accusative, motion into) — but the verb itself is intransitive: there is no direct object to put in a case. That is the everyday grammar of the word.
Geturðu skroppið í bankann fyrir mig á leiðinni heim?
Could you pop to the bank for me on the way home? — supine 'skroppið' after geta.
Þau skruppu til Akureyrar um helgina, bara í tvo daga.
They took a quick trip to Akureyri over the weekend, just for two days. — preterite plural 'skruppu' (u).
Bíddu aðeins, ég þarf að skreppa frá í smá stund.
Hang on a sec, I need to step away for a moment. — infinitive 'skreppa frá' = step away briefly.
Why English has no single word for this
English forces a paraphrase — "pop out," "nip to," "dash over," "run to the shop" — because it bundles the brevity into an adverbial or a phrasal verb. Icelandic packs the whole idea, a short there-and-back trip, into the verb skreppa itself. The closest single English verbs ("nip," "pop") are themselves colloquial and regional, which is a good clue to the register: skreppa is everyday, friendly, slightly informal. You would skreppa to the corner shop, but you would fara (go) on a planned journey abroad. Choosing skreppa signals that the trip is quick and no big deal — a nuance a learner who only knows fara simply cannot express.
Common Mistakes
❌ Hún skreppaði í búðina.
Incorrect — skreppa is strong Class 3, not weak; there is no '-aði'. The past is 'skrapp'.
✅ Hún skrapp í búðina.
She popped to the shop.
The classic strong-verb error: regularising to -aði. The preterite is skrapp, with the Class-3 singular a.
❌ Þau skröppu til Akureyrar.
Incorrect — the past PLURAL is 'skruppu' (u), not a u-umlauted '*skröppu'. The plural takes the Class-3 plural vowel u.
✅ Þau skruppu til Akureyrar.
They took a quick trip to Akureyri.
Don't confuse this with u-umlaut: the past plural stem is genuinely skrupp- (the Class-3 plural u), giving skruppu, not skröppu.
❌ Ég hef skreppið út nokkrum sinnum í dag.
Incorrect — the supine takes the Class-3 supine vowel o: 'skroppið', not '*skreppið'.
✅ Ég hef skroppið út nokkrum sinnum í dag.
I've popped out a few times today.
The supine and participle take o: skroppið, skroppinn. Don't carry the present e into the perfect.
❌ Ég er skroppinn í búðina.
Misleading auxiliary — for the action, use hafa: 'ég hef skroppið' or just 'ég skrapp'. 'Ég er skroppinn' reads as a state ('I'm out/away'), which may not be what you mean.
✅ Ég skrapp í búðina. / Ég er skroppinn frá í smástund.
I popped to the shop. / I'm away for a little while. (state)
The perfect auxiliary is hafa (ég hef skroppið). A vera + participle (ég er skroppinn) is grammatical but means a resultant state — "I'm out/away" — not the event of going.
Key Takeaways
- skreppa is strong Class 3, series e – a – u – o: skrepp (pres.), skrapp / skruppu (past sg./pl.), skroppið (supine), skroppinn (participle).
- It means a quick, casual there-and-back trip — "pop out, nip to, dash over" — with no single English equivalent. It is colloquial and warm in register.
- It is intransitive and pairs with a direction or destination: skreppa út / í búð / heim / frá / til [staðar]. The destination's case comes from its preposition, not from the verb.
- Watch the three strong-verb traps: past skrapp (not skreppaði), plural skruppu (not skröppu), supine skroppið (not skreppið).
- Choose skreppa for the quick errand, fara for the planned journey. Auxiliary is hafa: ég hef skroppið.
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