Question 1

What does the adverb frekar add here? Is it required?

Accepted Answer

Frekar means “rather / preferably.” The pattern frekar X en Y expresses “X rather than Y.” Without frekar, en would normally be read as “but,” not “than,” so you need frekar (or another comparative word) to get the “rather than” meaning.

Question 2

What exactly does en mean in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

Here en means “than” because it follows the comparative adverb frekar. In other contexts, en can mean “but”: e.g., Ég borða salat en ekki brauð = “I eat salad but not bread.”

Question 3

What cases are salat and brauð in?

Accepted Answer

They are (understood as) accusative objects of velur (“choose”), which takes the accusative case. These nouns are neuter and look the same in nominative and accusative singular, so you don’t see a form change. With nouns that show case clearly you would see it:  
• Hún velur frekar kjúkling en fisk. (accusative: kjúkling, fisk)

Question 4

Why is frekar after the verb? Could it go elsewhere?

Accepted Answer

Icelandic main clauses are verb-second. A common placement for sentence adverbs like frekar is right after the finite verb: Hún velur frekar …  
You can also say: Hún velur salat frekar en brauð. Both are idiomatic; the second keeps frekar close to the “en-phrase.”

Question 5

Can I say heldur en instead of frekar en?

Accepted Answer

Use:  
• ekki X, heldur Y = “not X, but (rather) Y” after a negation.  
• With comparisons, en alone is standard (e.g., betra en), and many speakers also say betra heldur en (colloquial, acceptable).  
For “rather than,” the set phrase is frekar en. Some people say frekar heldur en, but it’s redundant; stick to frekar en.

Question 6

What are the key forms of the verb velja (“to choose”)?

Accepted Answer

Present: ég vel, þú velur, hann/hún/það velur, við veljum, þið veljið, þau velja  
Past: ég/hún valdi, við völdum, þið völduð, þau völdu  
Perfect: hún hefur valið  
Example past of our sentence: Hún valdi frekar salat en brauð.

Question 7

How do I say “She is choosing …” and “She chose …”?

Accepted Answer

• “She is choosing …”: Hún er að velja …  
• “She chose …”: Hún valdi …  
So: Hún er að velja frekar salat en brauð. / Hún valdi frekar salat en brauð.

Question 8

Why is there no “a/the” before salat and brauð?

Accepted Answer

Icelandic has no indefinite article (“a”). The definite article is a suffix: salatið = “the salad,” brauðið = “the bread.” Indefinite objects often appear bare: Hún velur salat = “She chooses (some) salad.”

Question 9

Does salat mean “salad” or “lettuce”?

Accepted Answer

Both, depending on context. Salat can mean lettuce (the vegetable) or a salad (the dish). If you need to be explicit, you can say salatblöð (lettuce leaves) or name the specific salad.

Question 10

Can frekar also mean “rather/quite” in the sense of degree?

Accepted Answer

Yes. As a degree adverb it means “rather / fairly”: Þetta er frekar erfitt = “This is rather hard.” In our sentence it’s the comparative “rather (than).”

Question 11

How would I flip the preference (bread instead of salad)?

Accepted Answer

Swap the nouns: Hún velur frekar brauð en salat.

Question 12

How do I form a yes–no question with this sentence?

Accepted Answer

Invert subject and verb: Velur hún frekar salat en brauð?

Question 13

How do I say “rather than doing something (verb)”?

Accepted Answer

Use the infinitive with að: frekar að [VERB] en (að) [VERB].  
Example: Hún velur frekar að borða salat en (að) borða brauð. Often the second að is omitted if the verb repeats.

Question 14

Pronunciation tips?

Accepted Answer

Approximate:  
• Hún [huːn] = “hoon” (ú is a close u; stress on first syllable)  
• velur [ˈvɛːlʏr] = “VEH-lur” (short, rounded u in -ur)  
• frekar [ˈfrɛːkar] = “FREH-kar”  
• salat [ˈsaːlat] = “SAH-lat”  
• en [ɛn] = “en”  
• brauð [ˈprœyð] ≈ “broyth” (au = œy; ð is like th in “this,” often very soft word-finally)

Question 15

Are there useful synonyms for velja in this meaning?

Accepted Answer

• kjósa = choose/elect, also “prefer”: Hún kýs frekar salat en brauð.  
• vilja = want: Hún vill frekar salat en brauð (“She would rather have salad than bread”).

Hún velur frekar salat en brauð.

Questions & Answers about Hún velur frekar salat en brauð.

More from this lesson

Master Icelandic — from Hún velur frekar salat en brauð to fluency