Þeir eru nánir vinir.

to be

Breakdown of Þeir eru nánir vinir.

• vinurinn: the friend
• þeir: they
• náinn: close (relationship)

Questions & Answers about Þeir eru nánir vinir.

How do you pronounce Þeir eru nánir vinir?

A natural approximate pronunciation is:

• Þeir ≈ thair
• eru ≈ EH-ru
• nánir ≈ NOW-neer or NAU-neer
• vinir ≈ VIH-neer

A few useful pronunciation points:

• Þ is like th in thing, not like th in this.
• ei in þeir is pronounced like ay in day.
• The á in nánir is a long vowel, somewhat like ow in now.
• Icelandic r is usually trilled or tapped.

So the whole sentence sounds roughly like: thair EH-ru NOW-neer VIH-neer.

What does þeir mean here?

Þeir means they.

It is the masculine plural form of they, so it is used:

• for a group of men
• or sometimes for a mixed-gender group

If the group were all women, Icelandic would use þær instead.

Why is it eru and not something else?