Questions & Answers about Ég elska hárið þitt.
Word by word:
- Ég = I (1st person singular subject pronoun, nominative case)
- elska = love (verb að elska, here in 1st person singular present: I love)
- hárið = the hair (hár = hair, -ið = the, neuter singular definite ending)
- þitt = your (possessive pronoun for you singular, neuter singular form)
So the literal structure is: I love the hair yours → “I love your hair.”
Icelandic word order here is Subject–Verb–Object, same as English.
Because Icelandic normally makes “your X” definite when the possessive comes after the noun.
- hár = hair (indefinite)
- hárið = the hair (definite; hár
- -ið)
With a postposed possessive (þitt after the noun), you usually use the definite form:
- hárið þitt = your hair (literally: the hair of yours)
If you used just hár þitt, it would sound incorrect or at least very odd in normal modern Icelandic.
Icelandic usually has the definite article as a suffix on the noun, not a separate word:
- hár → hárið (the hair)
- hundur → hundurinn (the dog)
- kona → konan (the woman)
There is a separate article-like word (hinn, hin, hið), but it’s mostly used in more formal or special contexts.
So in everyday speech and writing, you almost always see the definite article attached as an ending.
The form of “your” has to agree with the noun’s gender, number, and case.
- The noun hár (hair) is neuter singular.
- The neuter singular nominative/accusative form of “your” (2nd person singular) is þitt.
Some key forms for “your” (you singular):
- þinn – masculine singular (e.g. bíllinn þinn – your car)
- þín – feminine singular (e.g. bókin þín – your book)
- þitt – neuter singular (e.g. hárið þitt – your hair)
- (Plural forms for plural nouns: þínir, þínar, þín, etc.)
So here we need þitt because hár is neuter.
Hárið þitt is in the accusative singular.
- It is the direct object of the verb elska (to love).
- In Icelandic, direct objects of most verbs are in the accusative.
For neuter nouns like hár, the nominative and accusative singular look the same:
- Nominative sg: hár / hárið
- Accusative sg: hár / hárið
So you can’t see the case difference in the form here, but grammatically it’s accusative because of its role as the object.
Icelandic allows possessives both before and after the noun, but the pattern changes a bit:
Postposed possessive (after noun, noun definite):
- hárið þitt = your hair
- Structure: [noun + definite ending] + your
This is a very normal, neutral way to say “your hair.”
Preposed possessive (before noun, noun usually without article):
- þitt hár
This also means “your hair,” but can sound a bit more emphatic or contrastive, like “your hair (not someone else’s)” or “that hair of yours in particular,” depending on context.
- þitt hár
In everyday speech, hárið þitt is the most typical way to say “your hair” in this sentence.
You can say þitt hár, and it is grammatically correct, but there is a nuance:
- Ég elska hárið þitt – the most natural, neutral way to say “I love your hair” in this context.
- Ég elska þitt hár – can sound a bit more marked, often with a sense of contrast or emphasis: I love your hair (as opposed to someone else’s), or focusing on your hair as a particular “kind.”
If you’re not trying to add extra emphasis, stick with hárið þitt.
Not in standard, neutral Icelandic.
- Icelandic normally does not drop subject pronouns the way Spanish/Italian do.
- The verb elska doesn’t change enough on its own to clearly show the subject without context.
You might see “Elska hárið þitt!” as an informal exclamation (like a text message or Instagram comment), but in a normal full sentence, you should say:
- Ég elska hárið þitt. – “I love your hair.”
The verb and subject here are still 1st person singular (“I”), so only the possessive changes.
For you plural (“you guys / you all”), the possessive is ykkar (it doesn’t agree in gender/number):
- Ég elska hárið ykkar. – “I love your (plural) hair.”
So:
- To one person: Ég elska hárið þitt.
- To several people: Ég elska hárið ykkar.
Approximate pronunciation (using English-like spelling):
- Ég ≈ yeh with a long vowel, something like [yeːɣ]
- elska ≈ [ˈɛlska], EHL-ska (stress on EL)
- hárið ≈ [ˈhauːrɪð], roughly HOW-rith (the final ð is a soft “th” as in this, often very weak in fast speech)
- þitt ≈ [θɪht], thitt with th as in thing, short i
Whole sentence slowly:
[jɛːɣ ˈɛlska ˈhauːrɪθ θɪht]
Key sounds:
- þ = voiceless th as in thing
- ð = voiced th as in this (very soft at the end of words)
Elska is the regular verb for “to love”, and it is strong emotionally, but it’s also commonly used for things you really like:
- Ég elska þetta lag. – I love this song.
- Ég elska súkkulaði. – I love chocolate.
So Ég elska hárið þitt is perfectly natural and idiomatic, just enthusiastic:
“I really love your hair / I absolutely love your hair.”
You just change the possessive to the 1st person singular mitt (neuter):
- Ég elska hárið mitt. – “I love my hair.”
Patterns:
- hárið þitt – your hair (you singular)
- hárið mitt – my hair
- hárið hans – his hair
- hárið hennar – her hair
- hárið ykkar – your hair (you plural)
In Icelandic, stress is almost always on the first syllable of each word.
So in Ég elska hárið þitt:
- ÉG elska hárið þitt
- ég ELSka hárið þitt
- ég elska HÁrið þitt
- ég elska hárið ÞITT
Each bold syllable is stressed. The rest of the syllables are unstressed or less stressed.