Ég tel penna.

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Breakdown of Ég tel penna.

• telja: to count
• penninn: the pen

Questions & Answers about Ég tel penna.

What case is penna in, and why doesn’t it look like pennar?

penna is the accusative plural of penni, used because telja (“to count”) takes a direct object in the accusative. The nominative plural is pennar, but once you make it an object, it changes to accusative plural penna.

Why doesn’t Icelandic have a word for “a” before penni?

Icelandic expresses indefiniteness by leaving the noun bare. So penni (nom sg) or penna (acc sg/pl) can mean “a pen” or “pens.” There’s no separate indefinite article. For definiteness, you use a suffix: e.g. penninn (“the pen”), pennarnir (“the pens”).

How do you pronounce Ég tel penna?

In IPA it’s roughly [jɛːɡ tʰɛlː pʰɛnːa], which you can approximate as “YEH-k t-el PEN-nah.” Stress is on the first syllable of each word: ÉG, TEL, PEN-na. The double ll in tel can be a “dark l,” but a regular “l” approximation is fine for learners.

Why is ég (“I”) needed here? Could you just say tel penna?

Without ég, tel penna is read as a 2nd-person singular imperative (“Count pens!”). Icelandic is a V2 language and normally needs an explicit subject in a statement, so you include ég to show it’s 1st-person present indicative.

Does telja only mean “to count”?

No. Besides “to count,” telja also means “to consider” or “to deem.” For instance, ég tel hann kláran means “I consider him smart.” Context and the words after tel tell you which meaning applies.

How is telja conjugated in the present tense?

Present-tense forms of telja are:

• 1sg: ég tel
• 2sg: þú telur
• 3sg: hann/hún/það telur
• 1pl: við teljum
• 2pl: þið teljið
• 3pl: þeir/þær/þau telja

How would you say “I’m counting the pens” if you mean specific pens?

Use the definite plural accusative pennanna. So you’d say Ég tel pennanna. That makes it clear you’re counting those particular pens.

Why does penni form plurals in such an irregular way (pennar, penna)?

Penni is an h-stem masculine noun. In many h-stem nouns, the stem’s final “n” disappears in the singular nominative but reappears in other forms. Thus you get sg nom penni, sg acc penna, pl nom pennar, and pl acc penna.