Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Ég hitti systkini hennar á veitingastaðnum.

It can be either. With the verb hitta (to meet), the 1st person singular in the present and the past are both ég hitti, so you need context (time words) to know which is meant.

Present: ég hitti, þú hittir, hann/hún/það hittir, við hittum, þið hittið, þau hitta
Past: ég hitti, þú hittir, hann/hún/það hitti, við hittum, þið hittuð, þau hittu

To make it unambiguously past, add a time word (e.g., í gær) or use the present perfect (Ég hef hitt…). For “I’m meeting (right now/soon),” you can say Ég er að hitta… or Ég ætla að hitta…

What exactly does systkini mean? Is it singular or plural?

systkin (neuter singular) = a sibling
systkini (neuter plural) = siblings

Examples:

eitt systkin = one sibling
tvö systkini = two siblings
systkinin = the siblings (definite plural)

What case is systkini hennar in, and why does it look like the nominative?

It’s accusative plural, because hitta governs the accusative. Neuter nouns have the same form in nominative and accusative (both in singular and plural), so systkini looks the same in both cases.

Why is it systkini hennar and not hennar systkini?

With third-person possessors, Icelandic normally places the possessive after the noun: systkini hennar (her siblings), hestur hans (his horse), börn þeirra (their children). Preposing (hennar systkini) is possible but sounds marked/emphatic (e.g., to stress that they are hers and no one else’s).

Why is it hennar and not sín?

sín is the reflexive 3rd-person possessive and can only refer back to a 3rd-person subject. Here the subject is ég (1st person), so reflexive sín is impossible. Use:

my siblings: systkini mín
his siblings: systkini hans
her siblings: systkini hennar
their siblings: systkini þeirra

If the subject were 3rd person and you meant “her own,” you’d use sín: Hún hitti systkini sín (She met her own siblings). Hún hitti systkini hennar means she met another woman’s siblings.

If I replace systkini hennar with a pronoun, which one should I use?

Use the neuter plural pronoun þau (both nominative and accusative are þau):

Ég hitti þau á veitingastaðnum.

What does á mean here, and which case does it take?

With location (being “at/on”), á takes the dative. With motion (going “to/onto”), it takes the accusative.

Location: á veitingastaðnum (at the restaurant, dative)
Motion: á veitingastaðinn (to the restaurant, accusative)

Why is it á veitingastaðnum and not something with another case or preposition?

Because the sentence describes location (where the meeting happened), not movement. Hence á + dative. The noun is dative singular definite: veitingastaðnum.

Could I say í veitingastaðnum instead of á veitingastaðnum?

Normally you say á veitingastaðnum for “at the restaurant.” í emphasizes being inside an enclosed space; it’s fine with many places (e.g., í bankanum, í búðinni), but with restaurants and similar venues, á is the default idiom for “at” the establishment. Use í only if you specifically want to stress the interior (and even then, á will often be preferred in everyday speech).

What’s the difference between á veitingastað and á veitingastaðnum?

á veitingastað = at a restaurant (indefinite)
á veitingastaðnum = at the restaurant (definite)

Why is it veitingastaðnum and not veitingastaðinum?

The noun is veitingastaður (a restaurant). In the dative singular, the stem becomes stað- (no -i-), and the definite ending for masculine dative singular is -num. So:

veitingastaður (nom. sg.) → veitingastað (dat. sg.) → veitingastaðnum (dat. sg. definite)

Can I front the place phrase? For example: Á veitingastaðnum hitti ég systkini hennar?

Yes. Icelandic main clauses are verb-second (V2). If you front the place phrase, the finite verb still comes second:

Á veitingastaðnum hitti ég systkini hennar.
Í gær hitti ég systkini hennar á veitingastaðnum.

How can I make the tense clear without extra context?

Clearly past: add a time word or use perfect
- Ég hitti systkini hennar í gær.
- Ég hef hitt systkini hennar.
Clearly present (ongoing/arranged): use “vera að” or future with “ætla/muna”
- Ég er að hitta systkini hennar (núna/bráðum).
- Ég ætla/mun hitta systkini hennar á morgun.

How do I pronounce the tricky bits?

Approximate guidance:

Ég ≈ “yegh” (the g is a soft, throaty sound)
hitti ≈ “HIT-ti” (short i, double tt is a strong t)
systkini ≈ “SYST-ki-ni” (the y is like short i)
á ≈ “ow” (as in “cow” but shorter)
veitingastaðnum ≈ “VAY-ting-a-stath-num” (the ð is like the th in “this”; final -num is “noom”)

If I only mean “her sisters” (or only “her brothers”), how would I say that?

her sisters: systur hennar (accusative plural of “systir”)
her brothers: bræður hennar (accusative plural of “bróðir”)

Use systkini hennar when you mean “siblings” (gender-neutral or mixed group).

How would I say “I met Anna’s siblings at the restaurant”?

Use a proper-name genitive:

Ég hitti systkini Önnu á veitingastaðnum. (Anna → genitive: Önnu)