Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Eyjan er græn og hafið við hana er djúpt. - The island is green and the sea by it is deep.

Eyjan – the island
- Dictionary (base) form: eyja (island, feminine)
er – is (3rd person singular of að vera – to be)
græn – green (feminine singular form of the adjective grænn – green)
og – and
hafið – the sea / the ocean
- Dictionary form: haf (sea, neuter)
við – by / next to / at (preposition; here it means by / next to)
hana – her / it (object form; refers back to eyjan, the island)
- Dictionary (nominative) form: hún (she / it, feminine)
er – is
djúpt – deep (neuter singular form of djúpur – deep)

Natural English translation: The island is green and the sea by it is deep.

What grammatical gender are eyja and haf, and why does that matter?

eyja (island) is feminine.
haf (sea) is neuter.

In Icelandic, grammatical gender affects:

Definite endings on nouns
- Feminine eyja → eyjan (the island)
- Neuter haf → hafið (the sea)
Pronouns referring back to the noun
- For eyja (fem.), you use feminine pronouns:
  - hún (she/it – subject)
  - hana (her/it – object)
- For haf (neut.), you would use neuter pronouns:
  - það (it – subject and object)
Adjective forms
- With eyjan (fem.): Eyjan er græn.
- With hafið (neut.): Hafið er djúpt.

So knowing the gender tells you which endings adjectives and pronouns need.

Why is it eyjan and not eyja? What does the -n ending do?

Eyja is the indefinite form (an island).
Eyjan is the definite form (the island).

Icelandic usually attaches the definite article as an ending, not as a separate word:

Feminine, nominative singular:
- eyja → eyjan (the island)
Masculine example:
- maður (man) → maðurinn (the man)
Neuter example:
- barn (child) → barnið (the child)

So the -n on eyjan is the built‑in “the”.
The sentence specifically talks about the island, not just any island.

Why is it hafið and not just haf? What does the -ið mean?

Same idea as with eyjan: the ending marks the definite form.

haf – a sea / sea (indefinite, neuter)
hafið – the sea / the ocean (definite, neuter)

For many neuter nouns, the nominative singular definite ending is -ið:

haf → hafið (the sea)
borð (table) → borðið (the table)
land (land, country) → landið (the land / the country)

So hafið means the sea, not just sea.

Why is the adjective græn (and not grænn or grænt) after eyjan?

Adjectives in Icelandic agree with the noun in:

gender (masculine / feminine / neuter)
number (singular / plural)
case (here: nominative)

The base adjective is:

Masculine: grænn
Feminine: græn
Neuter: grænt

In Eyjan er græn:

eyjan is feminine, singular, nominative.
The adjective must match: græn (feminine, singular, nominative).

Comparisons:

Drengurinn er grænn. – The boy is green. (masculine: grænn)
Eyjan er græn. – The island is green. (feminine: græn)
Hafið er grænt. – The sea is green. (neuter: grænt)

So græn is the correct form to agree with eyjan.

Why is the adjective djúpt and not djúpur or djúp with hafið?

Same agreement rule as above, but now the noun is neuter.

The base adjective is:

Masculine: djúpur
Feminine: djúp
Neuter: djúpt

In hafið við hana er djúpt:

hafið is neuter, singular, nominative.
The adjective must be neuter, singular, nominative: djúpt.

Comparisons:

Drengurinn er djúpur. – The boy is deep. (masc.)
Eyjan er djúp. – The island is deep. (fem.; a bit odd semantically, but grammatically fine.)
Hafið er djúpt. – The sea is deep. (neut.)

So djúpt correctly matches the neuter noun hafið.

Why is it hana and not hún or henni? What form is hana?

Hana is the accusative (object) form of the feminine pronoun whose nominative form is hún.

Feminine 3rd‑person singular pronoun:

Nominative (subject): hún – she / it
Accusative (direct object): hana – her / it
Dative (indirect object): henni – to/for her / it
Genitive: hennar – her (possessive “of her”)

In hafið við hana:

við is a preposition that here takes the accusative case.
So you must use the accusative form hana, not hún (subject) and not henni (dative).

Hana here translates as it, referring back to eyjan, which is grammatically feminine.

Why is a “feminine” pronoun used for an island? Why not an “it” pronoun?

In Icelandic, grammatical gender is what matters for pronouns, not natural gender.

eyja (island) is grammatically feminine, even though it has no biological gender.
Therefore, you use the feminine pronoun:
- hún (she / it) as subject
- hana (her / it) as object

So:

Eyjan er græn. Hún er falleg.
The island is green. It is beautiful.

Even though English uses it, Icelandic uses hún / hana because of the feminine gender of eyja. This is normal for all inanimate nouns in Icelandic.

Why does við cause hana (accusative) and not henni (dative)? Doesn’t Icelandic often use dative after prepositions?

Many Icelandic prepositions fix (govern) a particular case. Some take:

always accusative
always dative
always genitive
or change case depending on meaning (two‑case prepositions)

Við is one of the prepositions that take the accusative in this spatial sense (by / next to).

So:

við hana – by her / by it (accusative, required by við)
If it were dative‑taking, you would expect henni, but við does not take dative in this sense.

Examples:

Ég sit við borðið. – I sit by the table. (borðið in accusative)
Hann stendur við gluggann. – He stands by the window. (gluggann in accusative)
Hafið við hana – the sea by it. (hana in accusative)

So við here demands the accusative, which is why we get hana.

Does við always mean “by / next to”? I thought it could mean “against” or “with” too.

Við has several common meanings, all with the accusative, and the exact meaning depends on context:

By / next to / at / along
- Hann stendur við dyrnar. – He is standing by the door.
- In our sentence: hafið við hana – the sea by it.
Against
- Hann hallaði sér við vegginn. – He leaned against the wall.
With (in conflict or opposition)
- Við spiluðum við þá. – We played against them.
With / at (in connection with an activity or field, often with verbs)
- Hún vinnur við kennslu. – She works in/with teaching.

So við is flexible, but in hafið við hana, the meaning is by / next to.

Why is the phrase hafið við hana er djúpt ordered like that? Could I say Hafið er djúpt við hana instead?

There is a subtle difference:

Hafið við hana er djúpt.
Here við hana is inside the noun phrase:
- hafið við hana = the sea by it (a specific bit of sea)
- Then: … er djúpt = is deep
  So: The sea by it is deep.
Hafið er djúpt við hana.
Here við hana looks like it modifies the verb phrase:
- hafið er djúpt = the sea is deep
- við hana = by it (locating the being deep)
  This sounds more like: The sea is deep by it, which is awkward and not the intended meaning.

The original sentence focuses on a particular part of the sea (the sea that is by the island). Having við hana immediately after hafið keeps that together as one unit:

[hafið við hana] er djúpt
[the sea by it] is deep

So Hafið við hana er djúpt is the natural word order here. Hafið er djúpt við hana is grammatically possible but usually feels wrong or at least odd in this context.

Can I drop the second er and say Eyjan er græn og hafið við hana djúpt?

No, you shouldn’t drop er in Icelandic here.

In English, especially in a more literary style, you can sometimes say:

The island is green and the sea deep.

But in Icelandic, each clause with its own subject normally needs its own verb:

Eyjan er græn – The island is green.
hafið við hana er djúpt – the sea by it is deep.

When you join them with og:

Eyjan er græn og hafið við hana er djúpt.

Leaving out er in the second clause (… og hafið við hana djúpt) sounds incomplete or wrong to a native speaker. You should keep both instances of er.