Ég á kött.

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Breakdown of Ég á kött.

• eiga: to have
• kötturinn: the cat

Questions & Answers about Ég á kött.

How do I pronounce Ég á kött correctly in Icelandic?

• Ég is pronounced somewhat like yeh or yéh.
• á is pronounced as ow (as in English cow).
• kött is pronounced köht, with a short ö sound (similar to the u in hurt but formed further forward in the mouth) and a soft t at the end.

Why do we use á here instead of a direct equivalent to “have”?

In Icelandic, the verb eiga (conjugated as á in the present tense for the first-person singular) means “to own/possess.” It is the normal way to express ownership of an object or an animal. While Icelandic does have a verb hafa, it is more commonly used for having something metaphorically or temporarily, or as an auxiliary verb.

Where is the equivalent of “a” in “I have a cat”? Why isn’t it in the sentence?

Icelandic does not have an indefinite article like “a” or “an.” In Icelandic, you simply say Ég á kött to mean “I have a cat.” If you want to specify a definite cat, you would use the definite article suffix, for instance köttinn (the cat).

Is kött the same as köttur, and why is it spelled differently?