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Hún þvær hárið sitt á hverjum morgni.

Hún þvær hárið sitt á hverjum morgni.
She washes her hair every morning.

Breakdown of Hún þvær hárið sitt á hverjum morgni.

hún
she
á
on
hver
every
sinn
her
þvo
to wash
hár
the hair
morgunn
the morning
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Questions & Answers about Hún þvær hárið sitt á hverjum morgni.

What does each word in Hún þvær hárið sitt á hverjum morgni literally mean?

Word‑for‑word:

  • Hún – she
  • þvær – washes (3rd person singular present of þvo “to wash”)
  • hárið – the hair (accusative, singular, definite form of hár, “hair”)
  • sitt – her (own) (reflexive possessive pronoun, neuter singular)
  • á – on / in (here used in a time expression: “in / every”)
  • hverjum – each, every (dative singular masculine of hver)
  • morgni – morning (dative singular of morgunn, “morning”)

Natural English: “She washes her hair every morning.”

Why is the verb þvær and not some other form like þvo?

Þvo is the infinitive “to wash”. Icelandic verbs change form (conjugate) depending on the subject:

Present tense of þvo (to wash):

  • ég þvæ – I wash
  • þú þværð – you (sg.) wash
  • hann / hún / það þvær – he / she / it washes
  • við þvoum – we wash
  • þið þvoið – you (pl.) wash
  • þeir / þær / þau þvo – they wash

Because the subject is Hún (she), you use the 3rd person singular present: þvær.

Why is it hárið and not just hár?

Hárið is the definite form of hár (hair).

  • hár – hair (indefinite: “(some) hair”)
  • hárið – the hair

In Icelandic, definite articles are usually added as an ending to the noun rather than as a separate word (“the”).

When you talk about parts of the body in Icelandic, especially when they belong to the subject (e.g. her hair, his hand), you very often use:

definite noun + reflexive possessive

So here: hárið sitt – literally “the hair her-own”, meaning “her hair”.

Why is sitt used instead of hennar for “her”?

Icelandic has two “her” words in this context:

  • sinn / sín / sitt – reflexive possessive “his/her/its own”
  • hennar – her (non‑reflexive possessive)

You use the reflexive form (sitt) when the owner is the subject of the sentence:

  • Hún þvær hárið sitt. – She washes her (own) hair.

If you used hennar here (Hún þvær hárið hennar), it would usually be understood as:

  • She washes *her (another woman’s) hair.*

So sitt shows that the hair belongs to her herself, the subject Hún.

Why specifically sitt and not sinn or sín?

The reflexive possessive agrees in gender, number, and case with the noun it describes, not with the person who owns it.

  • The noun here is hárið (hair).
  • Hár is neuter, singular, accusative.

Neuter singular accusative of the reflexive is sitt.

Forms of the reflexive possessive (nominative singular):

  • sinn – masculine
  • sín – feminine
  • sitt – neuter

So with a neuter noun like hár, you need sitt: hárið sitt.

What case is hárið in, and why?

Hárið is in the accusative case.

The verb þvo (to wash) takes a direct object in the accusative:

  • (að þvo) hárið – to wash the hair
  • (að þvo) bílinn – to wash the car
  • (að þvo) diskana – to wash the dishes

So hárið is what is being washed, therefore it is the direct object and appears in the accusative.

What case are hverjum and morgni in, and why?

Both hverjum and morgni are in the dative singular.

The preposition á can govern either accusative or dative, depending on meaning:

  • á + accusative – motion onto something (direction)
  • á + dative – position on/in, or certain time expressions

Here á hverjum morgni is a time expression meaning “every morning”, and with this kind of time usage á takes the dative.

So:

  • hverjum – dative singular masculine of hver (each, every)
  • morgni – dative singular of morgunn (morning)

Together: á hverjum morgni – “on each morning / every morning”.

Why is it á hverjum morgni and not á hverjum morgun?

Because morgunn (morning) is being declined:

Morgunn (m. “morning”) – singular:

  • Nom: morgunn
  • Acc: morgun
  • Dat: morgni
  • Gen: morguns

After á in this time expression we need the dative → morgni. So the correct form with á here is á hverjum morgni, not á hverjum morgun.

Why is the word order hárið sitt instead of sitt hár like in English “her hair”?

In Icelandic, possessive pronouns are very often placed after the noun, especially when they are:

  • reflexive (sinn/sín/sitt)
  • or stressed/emphasized

So:

  • hárið sitt – her (own) hair
  • barnið sitt – her (own) child
  • vin sinn – his (own) friend

Sitt hár is not grammatically wrong, but it can sound more marked or stylistically different. The neutral, natural way in this context is hárið sitt.

Why is there no special continuous form like “is washing”?

Icelandic does not use a separate continuous tense like English “is washing”.
The simple present is used both for:

  • Actions happening right now
  • Habitual actions

So Hún þvær hárið sitt á hverjum morgni can cover the English idea of:

  • She washes her hair every morning.

If you really want to stress that it’s happening right now, you add adverbs or context, e.g.:

  • Hún er að þvo hárið sitt. – literally “She is at wash her hair”, used for ongoing action.

But for habits/routines, the simple present as in the original sentence is the normal choice.

What are the genders of Hún, hár, and morgunn, and how do they affect the forms used?
  • Hún – 3rd person singular feminine pronoun (“she”)
  • hár – neuter noun (“hair”)
  • morgunn – masculine noun (“morning”)

Effects:

  1. Verb agreement

    • The verb form þvær is simply 3rd person singular; it doesn’t change between masculine/feminine/neutral subjects, so Hún þvær, Hann þvær, Það þvær all use þvær.

  2. Possessive agreement

    • The reflexive sitt agrees with hár (neuter), not with Hún (feminine).

  3. Adjective/pronoun agreement

    • hverjum is masculine dative singular because it agrees with morgni, which is masculine dative singular.
How do you pronounce the tricky parts like þvær, hverjum, and morgni?

Approximate pronunciations (using English‑like hints):

  • þ – voiceless dental fricative, like th in thing.
  • Hún – roughly hoon (long oo sound).
  • þvær – roughly thvair (like “thv-air”; æ like ai in air).
  • hverjum – roughly kver-yum:
    • In modern Icelandic, hv is often pronounced /kv/, so it sounds close to kver-yum.
  • morgni – roughly morg-ni:
    • The gn cluster is a bit tight; say morg then a quick ni.

Stress is almost always on the first syllable in Icelandic: Hún, þvær, HÁRið, SITT, Á, HVERjum, MORGni.

How would the sentence change if the subject were “I”, “you”, or “we”?

Keep everything else the same, but change the subject pronoun and the verb form:

  • Ég þvæ hárið mitt á hverjum morgni. – I wash my hair every morning.

    • mitt = 1st person possessive (not reflexive), neuter sing. acc.

  • Þú þværð hárið þitt á hverjum morgni. – You wash your hair every morning.

    • þitt = 2nd person possessive, neuter sing. acc.

  • Við þvoum hárið okkar á hverjum morgni. – We wash our hair every morning.

    • okkar = “our”, used for 1st person plural.

With 3rd person and same subject/owner, the reflexive returns:

  • Hann þvær hárið sitt á hverjum morgni. – He washes his (own) hair every morning.
Are there other common ways to say “every morning” in Icelandic?

Yes, a few very common alternatives:

  • Á hverjum morgni – every morning (more literal “on each morning”)
  • Á morgnana – in the mornings / every morning (more colloquial)
  • Hvern morgun – each morning (using accusative with hvern)

Examples:

  • Hún þvær hárið sitt á morgnana. – She washes her hair in the mornings.
  • Hún þvær hárið sitt hvern morgun. – She washes her hair every morning.

All are natural; á hverjum morgni is very clear and slightly more “bookish” or precise.