Stelpan dansar með frænda sínum og frænku sinni.

The girl dances with her (own) uncle and her (own) aunt.

Breakdown of Stelpan dansar með frænda sínum og frænku sinni.

• með: with
• og: and
• sinn: her
• stelpan: the girl
• frændi: the uncle
• frænka: the aunt
• dansa: to dance

Questions & Answers about Stelpan dansar með frænda sínum og frænku sinni.

Why is it stelpan and not stelpa at the start of the sentence?

Stelpa means a girl (indefinite).
Stelpan means the girl (definite).

Icelandic usually adds the definite article as an ending on the noun, instead of a separate word like the:

• stelpa = girl
• stelpan = the girl
• stelpunni = to/for the girl (dative)
• stelpunnar = of the girl (genitive)

So Stelpan tells us we are talking about a specific girl that both speaker and listener can identify, which is why your sentence starts that way.

What exactly is dansar here – does it mean dances or is dancing?

Dansar is 3rd person singular present tense of að dansa (to dance):

• ég dansa – I dance
• þú dansar – you dance
• hann / hún / það dansar – he / she / it dances
• við dönsum – we dance
• þið dansið – you (pl.) dance
• þeir / þær / þau dansa – they dance

Icelandic normally uses a single present tense for both English dances and is dancing.

So Stelpan dansar can mean either:

• The girl dances (habitually), or
• The girl is dancing (right now),

depending on context. If you really want to emphasize the ongoing action, you can also say Stelpan er að dansa, but it is not required.

What does með do in this sentence, and why do the words after it change form?

Með means with. Here it expresses accompaniment: with her uncle and (her) aunt.

In this meaning (together with someone), með governs the dative case. That means any noun (and any agreeing adjective or possessive) that comes after með must be in dative:

• með frænda – with (her) uncle (dative singular)
• með frænku – with (her) aunt (dative singular)

Because they are dative, the possessive pronouns also go into dative:

• masculine dative singular: sínum
• feminine dative singular: sinni

So you get með frænda sínum and (með) frænku sinni.

Why are the words frænda and frænku used instead of frændi and frænka?

Frændi (uncle / male relative) and frænka (aunt / female relative) are in their nominative form. But after með, you must use the dative case for accompaniment.

Declension (singular):

• frændi (m.)

  • nominative: frændi
  • accusative: frænda
  • dative: frænda
  • genitive: frænda

• frænka (f.)

  • nominative: frænka
  • accusative: frænku
  • dative: frænku
  • genitive: frænku

So in the dative, you must say:

• frænda (not frændi)
• frænku (not frænka)

That is why the sentence has með frænda sínum og frænku sinni.

What exactly do frændi and frænka mean? Are they only uncle and aunt?

In Icelandic, frændi and frænka are broader kinship terms than English uncle and aunt.

• frændi can mean:

  • uncle (mother’s or father’s brother),
  • male cousin,
  • sometimes other male relatives.

• frænka can mean:

  • aunt (mother’s or father’s sister),
  • female cousin,
  • sometimes other female relatives.

The exact relationship is often understood from context or clarified with extra words if needed. In a basic sentence like yours, frænda and frænku are usually understood as uncle and aunt.

Why do we use sínum and sinni instead of hennar for her?

Icelandic has a special reflexive possessive pronoun sinn that refers back to the subject of the sentence (here: stelpan).

• sinn / sín / sitt = his/her/its/own (referring to the subject)
• hennar = her (belonging to some female person, not automatically the subject)

In your sentence, sínum and sinni must refer to stelpan (the girl), the subject. So Icelandic uses the reflexive form sinn:

• Stelpan dansar með frænda sínum
  = The girl dances with her (own) uncle.

If you said:

• Stelpan dansar með frænda hennar,

this would normally be understood as:

• The girl dances with her uncle = the uncle of some other woman, not the girl herself.

So sínum / sinni show that the uncle and aunt belong to the subject, the girl.

Why are there two different forms, sínum and sinni? How do I know which one to use?

The reflexive possessive sinn behaves like an adjective and must agree with the noun it describes in:

• gender (masculine / feminine / neuter),
• number (singular / plural),
• case (nominative / accusative / dative / genitive).

Basic forms in the singular:

• masculine: sinn (nom), sinn (acc), sínum (dat), síns (gen)
• feminine: sín (nom), sína (acc), sinni (dat), sinnar (gen)
• neuter: sitt (nom/acc), sínu (dat), síns (gen)

In the sentence:

• frænda is masculine dative singular → sínum (masc dat sg)
  
  • frænda sínum – her (own) uncle
• frænku is feminine dative singular → sinni (fem dat sg)
  
  • frænku sinni – her (own) aunt

So you always choose the form of sinn that matches the noun it belongs to, not the subject’s gender. Even if the subject were a boy, you would still say frænku sinni, because frænka is feminine.

Why is the possessive placed after the noun (frænda sínum) instead of before, like in English her uncle?

In Icelandic, possessive pronouns very often come after the noun they modify, especially in everyday speech:

• pabbi minn – my dad
• bíllinn minn – my car
• frænda sínum – her (own) uncle

Putting the possessive before the noun is also possible (sinn frændi, minn pabbi) but:

• it is less common in neutral statements,
• it often sounds more emphatic, contrastive, or slightly more marked.

So frænda sínum and frænku sinni are the normal, neutral orders here.

Do we need to repeat með before frænku sinni, or is með frænda sínum og frænku sinni correct?

You do not need to repeat með. Icelandic (like English) can let one preposition govern several coordinated objects:

• með frænda sínum og frænku sinni
  = with her uncle and (with her) aunt.

You could say með frænda sínum og með frænku sinni for emphasis or clarity in some contexts, but in a normal sentence that would sound a bit heavy or repetitive. The version you have is the natural one.

Can the word order of the whole sentence change, for example Stelpan með frænda sínum og frænku sinni dansar?

The neutral word order in Icelandic main clauses is:

• Subject – Verb – (other elements)

So your sentence:

• Stelpan dansar með frænda sínum og frænku sinni

is the most natural, unmarked order.

You can move elements for emphasis or special focus, so something like:

• Stelpan með frænda sínum og frænku sinni dansar

is possible in some contexts, but it would usually sound marked (poetic, stylized, or focusing especially on with her uncle and aunt). For learning purposes, stick to:

• Stelpan dansar með …

How do you pronounce Stelpan dansar með frænda sínum og frænku sinni?

Some key sounds:

• æ – like eye in English eye or I.
• ð (in með) – like the th in this, but often very soft.
• ll / lp / nk clusters – have their own Icelandic feel; don’t try to insert extra vowels.

Very approximate pronunciation (English-like spelling):

• Stelpan ≈ STEL-pan (short e, clear l, t clearly pronounced)
• dansar ≈ DAN-sar (both a like in father, rolled or tapped r)
• með ≈ mehth (short e, soft th at the end)
• frænda ≈ FRAI-nda (æ like eye)
• sínum ≈ SEE-num (í = like ee in see)
• og ≈ og or ok (the g can sound like a hard g or somewhat like k in fast speech)
• frænku ≈ FRAINK-koo (æ like eye, u like oo but shorter)
• sinni ≈ SIN-ni (both i like i in sit, but shorter/tenser)

Listening to native audio of similar sentences will help you get the rhythm and stress patterns.