The Present Tense: First Verbs | Icelandic Grammar

This is the page to start with if you want to say something useful in Icelandic today. Before any class system or paradigm tables, you can introduce yourself, say where you live, and describe what you do — all in the present tense, with a handful of high-frequency verbs. We will conjugate just the people you actually need first (ég "I", þú "you", hann/hún "he/she"), point out the one ending that matters most, and free you from a habit English has wired into you. The full conjugation classes have their own pages; this is the practical entry ramp.

The one fact that frees you: no progressive

Start here, because it changes how you build every sentence. In English you constantly choose between "I speak" and "I am speaking." Icelandic makes no such choice — the present form covers both. Ég tala means "I speak," "I am speaking," and (with a time word) "I'll speak." There is no separate "-ing" tense to learn or hunt for.

Ég tala íslensku.

I speak Icelandic. / I'm speaking Icelandic.

Hvað ertu að gera? – Ég borða.

What are you doing? – I'm eating. (plain present is the natural answer)

So when you want to say "I am living in Reykjavík right now," you do not reach for an "-ing" form. You just say ég bý í Reykjavík. This single fact removes the most common source of beginner over-engineering.

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Whenever you feel the pull to say "I am ...-ing," stop and use the plain present. Ég les is already "I read" and "I am reading." Icelandic has no obligatory progressive — let the one form do both jobs.

The endings you need first: -∅ / -r / -r

For the three persons you use most — ég, þú, hann/hún — the regular pattern is dead simple: the ég form is bare-ish, and both þú and hann/hún add -r. Using tala ("speak"):

Person	Form	English
ég	tala	I speak
þú	talar	you speak
hann/hún/það	talar	he/she/it speaks

The thing to notice — and not to fight — is that "you speak" and "she speaks" are the same word, talar. English changes the verb for "he/she" ("speak" → "speaks") but not for "you"; Icelandic puts -r on both and lets the pronoun tell them apart. So your job is mainly to remember that þú and hann/hún both want that -r.

Ég tala, þú talar, hann talar.

I speak, you speak, he speaks. (note: þú and hann are identical)

Talar þú ensku?

Do you speak English? (2sg talar in a question)

Hún talar fjögur tungumál.

She speaks four languages. (3sg talar)

vera — "to be," the verb you'll use most

Vera ("be") is irregular and you simply memorise it. The singular you need now:

Person	Form	English
ég	er	I am
þú	ert	you are
hann/hún/það	er	he/she/it is

Here ég and hann/hún share er, while þú has its own ert. You will hear ert þú run together as ertu ("are you") constantly.

Ég er frá Bretlandi.

I'm from Britain. (self-introduction)

Hvaðan ertu? – Ég er héðan.

Where are you from? – I'm from here. (ertu = ert þú)

Hún er kennari.

She's a teacher. (no word for 'a' — bare noun)

A starter set for introducing yourself

These five verbs cover most of what you say in your first conversations. Each is given in the three persons you need; the irregular spots are flagged.

Verb	ég	þú	hann/hún	English
heita	heiti	heitir	heitir	be called / be named
tala	tala	talar	talar	speak
búa	bý	býrð*	býr	live / reside
eiga	á	átt	á	have / own
koma	kem	kemur	kemur	come
fara	fer	ferð	fer	go

A couple of these are irregular and worth memorising as whole words rather than deriving: eiga gives ég á / þú átt / hann á (a tiny, very common verb of possession), and búa gives ég bý / þú býrð / hann býr. Koma and fara are strong verbs whose singular stem shifts (koma → kem, fara → fer) but still take the regular -ur in the 2/3sg (kemur, ferð/fer) — you do not need the theory yet, just the forms. With these you can already say a great deal:

Ég heiti Anna og ég tala smá íslensku.

My name is Anna and I speak a little Icelandic. (heiti, tala)

Ég bý í Reykjavík og ég á tvö börn.

I live in Reykjavík and I have two children. (bý, á)

Ég kem á morgun og fer á sunnudaginn.

I'm coming tomorrow and leaving on Sunday. (kem, fer — present as near future)

Hann vinnur á spítala.

He works at a hospital. (vinna → vinnur)

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Learn heita, búa, eiga as the three "about me" verbs: ég heiti… (my name is), ég bý í… (I live in), ég á… (I have). With vera and tala, that is a full self-introduction on day one.

Putting it together

Real introductions string these straight together — no progressive, no extra words for "a":

Hæ, ég heiti Tom. Ég er frá Kanada en ég bý í Reykjavík núna.

Hi, I'm Tom. I'm from Canada but I live in Reykjavík now.

Talar þú ensku? – Já, og ég tala líka svolitla íslensku.

Do you speak English? – Yes, and I also speak a little Icelandic.

Common Mistakes

❌ Þú tala íslensku.

Incorrect — the 2sg needs -r: þú talar.

✅ Þú talar íslensku.

You speak Icelandic.

Dropping the -r is the number-one beginner slip, because English never puts an ending on "you." Both þú and hann/hún take -r: þú talar, hann talar.

❌ Ég er talandi íslensku núna.

Incorrect — there's no -ing form; the plain present already means 'I'm speaking'.

✅ Ég tala íslensku núna.

I'm speaking Icelandic right now.

Inventing a progressive. Ég tala covers "I am speaking" on its own — no Icelandic equivalent of "-ing" is needed.

❌ Ég er kennari — Ég er einn kennari.

Incorrect — professions take a bare noun, no word for 'a'.

✅ Ég er kennari.

I'm a teacher.

Do not translate the English "a." After vera, a profession stands bare: ég er kennari, not einn kennari.

❌ Þú ert á tvö börn. / Ég á tvö börn.

Use eiga for 'have': ég á, þú átt — not vera.

✅ Ég á tvö börn.

I have two children.

"Have" is eiga (ég á, þú átt, hann á), a different verb from vera. Don't blend them.

Key Takeaways

The present does double duty: ég tala = "I speak" and "I am speaking." There is no progressive to find.
For your first three persons, the endings are -∅ / -r / -r; þú and hann/hún are identical (talar).
Memorise vera (er, ert, er) and the "about me" trio heita / búa / eiga (ég heiti, ég bý, ég á).
Professions after vera take a bare noun — no word for "a" (ég er kennari).
A few first verbs are irregular (eiga → á, átt, á; koma → kem; fara → fer) — learn them as whole words for now.

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