Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Hárið þitt er langt.

hár – hair
-ið – the suffixed definite article the, so hárið = the hair
þitt – your (singular, talking to one person), agreeing with a neuter noun
er – is (3rd person singular of to be)
langt – long (neuter form of the adjective langur “long”)

So literally: The hair your is long. In normal English: Your hair is long.

Why does hárið end in -ið?

Icelandic doesn’t use a separate word for the. Instead, it adds a suffix:

hár = hair (indefinite)
hárið = the hair (definite; -ið is the neuter singular definite ending)

So hárið means the hair, and in this sentence it refers to “your hair on your head” in a general, definite way, just like English “your hair” (we normally think of it as a specific, known thing).

Why is hár neuter, and what does that change in the sentence?

In Icelandic, every noun has a grammatical gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter) that is mostly arbitrary.

hár happens to be neuter.
Because the noun is neuter, any words that agree with it must also use neuter forms.

So:

hárið – neuter singular definite
þitt – neuter singular form of your
langt – neuter singular form of long

The fact that you might be male or female does not affect the gender of hár. The gender belongs to the word, not to you.

Why is it þitt and not þín or þinn?

The possessive pronoun þinn (your, singular) changes form to agree with the noun:

Masculine: þinn (e.g. bíllinn þinn – your car)
Feminine: þín (e.g. bókin þín – your book)
Neuter: þitt (e.g. hárið þitt – your hair)

Since hár is neuter, you must use the neuter form þitt.
þinn would be for a masculine noun, þín for a feminine noun.

Why is the order Hárið þitt instead of Þitt hár?

Both are possible, but they’re not used in exactly the same way.

Hárið þitt er langt.
– Literally the hair your is long
– Very natural/neutral way to say Your hair is long.
– The noun is definite (the hair).
Þitt hár er langt.
– Literally your hair is long with þitt in front.
– Also grammatically correct.
– Tends to sound a bit more emphatic or contrastive, like “YOUR hair (not someone else’s) is long.”

In everyday speech, Hárið þitt er langt is the more typical, neutral choice when you’re just describing someone’s hair.

Why do we use er here? Could we say something with “have,” like English You have long hair?

Er is the present tense 3rd person singular of að vera (to be), so:

Hárið þitt er langt. = Your hair is long.

You can express the idea “You have long hair” in Icelandic, but it’s usually done differently:

Þú ert með langt/sítt hár. – You have long hair. (literally “you are with long hair”)
Þú hefur langt/sítt hár. – also possible, but ert með is more common in this context.

The given sentence uses the be + adjective structure, which is also perfectly natural in Icelandic.

What case is used in Hárið þitt er langt?

Everything here is in the nominative case, because:

Hárið þitt is the subject of the sentence.
Langt is a predicate adjective describing the subject.
In Icelandic, the subject and predicate adjective both appear in the nominative and must agree in gender and number.

So:

hárið – nominative neuter singular
þitt – nominative neuter singular (agreeing with hárið)
langt – nominative neuter singular (agreeing with hárið)

Why does langt end in -t?

The base form of the adjective is langur (long). Adjectives must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

Nominative singular forms of langur:

Masculine: langur (e.g. bíllinn er langur – the car is long)
Feminine: löng (e.g. bókin er löng – the book is long)
Neuter: langt (e.g. hárið er langt – the hair is long)

Since hár is neuter, the adjective must be neuter too, hence langt with -t.

Is langt the usual word for “long” when talking about hair, or is there another word?

Langt is correct and understandable for long hair.

However, Icelandic very often uses a more specific adjective for hair length:

sítt hár – literally down-hanging hair, the usual way to say long hair.

Some very natural variants:

Hárið þitt er sítt. – Your hair is long (in the sense of hair length).
Þú ert með sítt hár. – You have long hair.

So:

langt = general “long” (distance, objects, time, etc.), also OK for hair.
sítt = especially natural for hair length.

Is hár singular or plural when we talk about all the hair on someone’s head?

In this sentence, hár is singular and used as a mass noun, like English hair:

hár (singular) – hair as a whole mass
hárið – the hair (all the hair on someone’s head)

Icelandic also has a plural hár (with different article: hárin) meaning individual hairs, but that is not how it’s being used here.

So Hárið þitt er langt is about your hair as a whole, not individual hairs.

How would the sentence change for “my hair,” “his hair,” “her hair,” “our hair,” etc.?

Keep hárið the same, and change the possessive:

My hair is long.
Hárið mitt er langt.
Your hair is long. (singular “you”)
Hárið þitt er langt.
His hair is long.
Hárið hans er langt.
Her hair is long.
Hárið hennar er langt.
Our hair is long.
Hárið okkar er langt.
Your hair is long. (plural “you”)
Hárið ykkar er langt.
Their hair is long.
Hárið þeirra er langt.

Note: mitt / þitt are adjective-like possessives that agree with the noun.
Forms like hans, hennar, okkar, ykkar, þeirra are genitive pronouns and do not change form.

How do you say “Your hair is not long” in Icelandic?

You add ekki (not) after the verb er:

Hárið þitt er ekki langt. – Your hair is not long.

Structure:

Hárið þitt – your hair (subject)
er – is
ekki – not
langt – long

How do you pronounce Hárið þitt er langt?

Approximate pronunciation (using English-style hints):

Hárið – roughly HOW-rith
- há- like English how
- -rið with a soft ð like th in this, but very quick
þitt – roughly THIT (with a very light h between the vowel and t if you listen closely)
- þ is like th in think
- short i as in sit
er – like AIR but shorter: ehr
langt – roughly LOWNGT
- laun- like English lowng (ow as in cow; ng as in sing)
- final -t clearly pronounced

More precise IPA (approximate):

Hárið – [ˈhauːrɪð]
þitt – [θɪht] (the ht is a typical Icelandic “pre-aspirated” t)
er – [ɛr]
langt – [lauŋ̥t] (ng + t cluster)

Stress in Icelandic is always on the first syllable of each word: HÁ-ríð þitt er langt.

What is the difference between þ and ð in this sentence?

Both letters represent “th”-sounds, but they are different:

þ (thorn) – voiceless “th”
- Like th in think, thin.
- In þitt, you start with that voiceless th: [θ].
ð (eth) – voiced “th”
- Like th in this, that, though.
- In hárið, the ð is this softer, voiced sound: [ð].

So in the phrase:

Hárið – ends with [ð] (voiced “th”)
þitt – starts with [θ] (voiceless “th”)