spara ("to save") is the verb for not spending — money, effort, time, energy. It is a regular weak Class-1 verb (the -aði preterite), so its endings hold no surprises, with one feature you must respect: its stem vowel is short a, which means it takes u-umlaut. Before a -u- ending the a turns to ö: spörum ("we save"), spöruðu ("they saved"). This is the opposite trap from nota, whose o-stem blocks umlaut. This page gives the full paradigm, the benefactive spara sér, the phrase spara við sig ("economise"), and the sharp line between spara (save money/effort) and geyma (store an object).
Conjugation
Class: weak, Class 1 (the -aði preterite). Auxiliary: hafa — ég hef sparað "I have saved." The only moving part is the u-umlaut: short a → ö in exactly the forms with a -u- in the ending (spörum, spöruðum, spöruðuð, spöruðu).
| Principal parts | |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | að spara |
| 3sg present | sparar |
| 3sg past | sparaði |
| 3pl past | spöruðu |
| Supine | sparað |
| Person | Present (nútíð) | Past (þátíð) |
|---|---|---|
| ég | spara | sparaði |
| þú | sparar | sparaðir |
| hann / hún / það | sparar | sparaði |
| við | spörum | spöruðum |
| þið | sparið | spöruðuð |
| þeir / þær / þau | spara | spöruðu |
| Person | Present subjunctive | Past subjunctive |
|---|---|---|
| ég | spari | sparaði |
| þú | sparir | sparaðir |
| hann / hún / það | spari | sparaði |
| við | spörum | spöruðum |
| þið | sparið | spöruðuð |
| þeir / þær / þau | spari | spöruðu |
| Non-finite & imperative | |
|---|---|
| Imperative (þú) | sparaðu |
| Imperative (þið) | sparið! |
| Supine | sparað |
| Past participle (m/f/n) | sparaður / spöruð / sparað |
| Middle voice (miðmynd) | sparast — "be saved (up)," það sparast "it accumulates / is saved" |
spara + accusative — "save (money/effort)"
In its core use, spara takes a direct object in the accusative: spara peninga ("save money"), spara tíma ("save time"), spara orku ("save energy"). What it saves is something expended — resources you would otherwise use up. This is why spara covers both "put money aside" and "avoid spending effort."
Ef við hjólum í vinnuna spörum við bæði peninga og bensín.
If we cycle to work we save both money and petrol. (present plural 'spörum' with u-umlaut)
Hún sparaði sér ferðina með því að hringja í staðinn.
She saved herself the trip by phoning instead. (benefactive 'spara sér' + accusative ferðina)
spara sér — the benefactive "save oneself (something)"
A very common pattern is spara sér + accusative — "save oneself something," i.e. avoid a cost or trouble. The reflexive sér (dative) is the beneficiary, the thing avoided is accusative: spara sér tíma ("save oneself time"), spara sér vinnuna ("save oneself the work"), spara sér sporin ("save oneself the steps/effort"). English uses the same "save yourself the trouble" frame, so the logic transfers cleanly.
Þú getur sparað þér mikla fyrirhöfn ef þú bókar á netinu.
You can save yourself a lot of hassle if you book online. (spara sér + accusative fyrirhöfn)
spara við sig — "economise, cut back"
The phrase spara við sig means "to economise, tighten the belt, cut back on spending." It describes restraint in general rather than saving toward a goal. You can also spara við sig í + dative to name what you're cutting back on: spara við sig í mat ("cut back on food").
Við þurfum að spara við okkur þangað til launin hækka.
We need to cut back until our wages go up. (spara við sig, here 'við okkur')
spara vs geyma vs leggja fyrir
Three verbs cluster near "save/keep," and they do not overlap:
| Verb | What it does | Typical object |
|---|---|---|
| spara | not spend / not use up (money, effort, time) | peninga, tíma, orku |
| geyma | store, keep, put away (a physical thing) | matinn, töskuna, leyndarmál |
| leggja fyrir | set aside savings (put money by, regularly) | (money) — leggja fyrir í hverjum mánuði |
The split is resource vs object vs accumulation. You spara money in the sense of not spending it; you geymir the leftovers in the fridge (store an object); and you leggur fyrir a fixed sum each month (build up savings). Crucially, you do not geyma money to mean "save up" — that is spara or leggja fyrir. And you do not spara the leftovers in the fridge — that is geyma.
Ég geymi afganginn í ísskápnum og spara þannig kvöldmatinn á morgun.
I'm keeping the leftovers in the fridge and so saving on tomorrow's dinner. (geyma = store the food; spara = save the expense)
Þau leggja fyrir í hverjum mánuði til að spara fyrir íbúð.
They set money aside every month to save up for a flat. (leggja fyrir = build savings; spara fyrir = save toward)
Common Mistakes
❌ Við sparum mikið með því að elda heima.
Incorrect — the a-stem takes u-umlaut before -u-: it must be 'spörum', not '*sparum'.
✅ Við spörum mikið með því að elda heima.
We save a lot by cooking at home.
❌ Þau sparuðu allt sumarið fyrir ferðina.
Incorrect — the past plural also umlauts: 'spöruðu', not '*sparuðu'.
✅ Þau spöruðu allt sumarið fyrir ferðina.
They saved up all summer for the trip.
❌ Ég ætla að geyma peninga fyrir nýjum síma.
Wrong verb — to 'save up' money is 'spara' (or 'leggja fyrir'); 'geyma' means store an object.
✅ Ég ætla að spara fyrir nýjum síma.
I'm going to save up for a new phone.
❌ Þú getur sparað þig mikla vinnu.
Incorrect — the benefactive reflexive is DATIVE 'sér/þér', not accusative 'þig'.
✅ Þú getur sparað þér mikla vinnu.
You can save yourself a lot of work.
Key Takeaways
- spara / sparar / sparaði / sparað — a regular weak Class-1 verb, past in -aði.
- U-umlaut a → ö before -u- endings: spörum, spöruðum, spöruðuð, spöruðu (contrast nota, which never umlauts).
- spara
- accusative = "save (money, time, effort)"; spara sér
- accusative = "save oneself (a cost/trouble)"; spara við sig = "economise, cut back."
- accusative = "save (money, time, effort)"; spara sér
- Don't confuse with geyma (store a physical object) or leggja fyrir (set aside savings regularly).
- Auxiliary is hafa: ég hef sparað.
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- geyma (to keep, store)A2 — Full conjugation of the weak Class-2 verb geyma (geymi / geymdi / geymdu / geymt), the everyday word for keeping or storing something (+ accusative), with the contrast against halda 'hold' and spara 'save (money)', and the middle voice geymast 'keep, last, be saved for later'.
- borga (to pay)A2 — Full conjugation of the weak Class-1 verb borga (borga / borgaði / borguðu / borgað), the o-stem with no u-umlaut, the idioms borga fyrir 'pay for' and borga með korti, and the contrast with formal greiða.
- The Weak Preterite: -aði, -di, -ði, -tiA2 — How to choose and form the weak past tense — Class-1 -a verbs take -aði (tala → talaði, plural töluðum), Class-2 verbs take the short dental -di/-ði/-ti picked by the preceding sound (reyndi, dæmdi, keypti) — with the full tala paradigm and the 'when in doubt, -aði' default for unknown verbs.
- 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'.
- u-Umlaut in Plurals and the Dative PluralA2 — The single most pervasive sound rule in Icelandic noun inflection: a stem 'a' rounds to 'ö' before a following 'u' — most reliably in the dative-plural ending -um (dögum, löndum) and in many bare plurals (barn → börn, land → lönd).