Konan er ekki reið.

to be

Breakdown of Konan er ekki reið.

• ekki: not
• reið: angry
• konan: the woman

Questions & Answers about Konan er ekki reið.

Why does the sentence use ekki here?

Ekki means not in Icelandic. It negates the verb or the statement, making the sentence mean The woman is not angry.

Is there a specific reason Konan ends with -an?

In Icelandic, kona is the base word for woman. When adding the definite article in the nominative singular form, it becomes konan, literally the woman.

Why does the sentence use er instead of another verb like hefur?

Icelandic, like English, distinguishes between to be and to have. Er is the present tense of to be, used here for describing a state (not being angry). Hefur means has, used for possession or perfect tenses.

How do I pronounce reið?

Reið is pronounced somewhat like ray-th. The letter ð (called eð) sounds like the soft th in this.

Do I need to worry about gender agreement when saying reið?

Yes. In Icelandic, adjectives can change form based on the gender of the noun they describe. Reið is the feminine form. For a masculine subject, you would say reiður, and for a neuter subject, reitt, but here it’s reið because konan is feminine.