Læknirinn segir að hún eigi að slaka meira á um helgar.

The doctor says that she should relax more on weekends.

Breakdown of Læknirinn segir að hún eigi að slaka meira á um helgar.

• hún: she
• eiga að: should
• helgi: the weekend
• segja: to say
• læknirinn: the doctor
• að: that
• meira: more
• um: on
• slaka á: to relax

Questions & Answers about Læknirinn segir að hún eigi að slaka meira á um helgar.

What does Læknirinn literally mean, and why is the article attached at the end instead of being a separate word?

Læknirinn literally means “the doctor”.

In Icelandic, the definite article (“the”) is not a separate word as in English. Instead, it is normally added as a suffix to the noun:

• læknir = doctor
• læknirinn = the doctor

This is called the suffixed definite article. The exact ending depends on the gender, case, and number of the noun. Here:

• læknir is a masculine noun in the nominative singular.
• Its definite form is læknirinn (læknir + inn).

So Læknirinn is simply “the doctor (as subject of the sentence).”

What is the role of segir in this sentence, and what form of the verb is it?

Segir is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb segja (to say).

Basic paradigm (present tense):

• ég seg(i) – I say
• þú segir – you say
• hann/hún/það segir – he/she/it says
• við segjum – we say
• þið segið – you (pl.) say
• þeir/þær/þau segja – they say

In the sentence:

• Læknirinn segir ... = The doctor says ...

So segir just expresses what the doctor is saying right now / in general (present tense), and it introduces reported speech (indirect speech) with að.

What does the að after segir do in segir að hún eigi?

That að is a subordinating conjunction, meaning roughly “that” in English.

• Læknirinn segir að ... = The doctor says that ...

It introduces a subordinate clause (a “that‑clause”) which contains what is being said:

• að hún eigi að slaka meira á um helgar
  → that she should relax more on weekends

So here að is not the infinitive marker (as in að slaka); it is a conjunction linking the main clause (The doctor says) with the content of what he says (that she should relax more on weekends).

Icelandic uses this að very often where English might optionally drop that:

• He says (that) she is tired.
• Hann segir að hún sé þreytt.
  (English can drop “that”; Icelandic normally keeps að.)

Why is it hún eigi and not hún á? What is eigi?

Eigi is the subjunctive present form of the verb eiga (to own, to have to, to be supposed to).

• á is the indicative form: she owns / she has / she is supposed to
• eigi is the subjunctive form: used in reported speech, “softened” statements, and certain fixed constructions.

In indirect or reported speech, Icelandic often changes verbs into the subjunctive to show that this is someone’s statement, thought, or opinion, not a direct fact the speaker is asserting.

Compare:

• Direct speech:
  Læknirinn segir: „Hún á að slaka meira á um helgar.”
  The doctor says: “She should relax more on weekends.”

• Indirect (reported) speech:
  Læknirinn segir að hún eigi að slaka meira á um helgar.
  The doctor says that she should relax more on weekends.

So eigi instead of á signals:

1. This is reported / indirect speech, and
2. The nuance “she should / is supposed to” rather than simple possession.

Does eiga að always mean “should”? How does it work in this sentence?

Eiga að is a very common construction that often corresponds to English “should”, “ought to”, or “is supposed to”.

In this sentence:

• hún eigi að slaka meira á
  ≈ she should relax more / she is supposed to relax more

Nuances of eiga að:

• Advice / recommendation:
  Þú átt að drekka meira vatn. – You should drink more water.
• Obligation / rule:
  Við eigum að mæta klukkan átta. – We’re supposed to arrive at eight.
• Expectation:
  Strætóinn á að koma núna. – The bus is supposed to come now.

So here, eiga að expresses the doctor’s advice: she is expected / recommended to relax more on weekends.

Why is there another að before slaka – að slaka? Is that the same að as after segir?

No, it is a different use of að.

In að slaka, að is the infinitive marker, similar to “to” in English:

• slaka = the bare infinitive “relax”
• að slaka = “to relax”

So in the sentence:

• hún eigi að slaka meira á
  literally: she should to relax more
  but idiomatically: she should relax more

The two different að’s in the sentence have different roles:

1. segir að hún eigi ... – að = that (subordinating conjunction)
2. eigi að slaka – að = to (infinitive marker)

They look the same but function differently.

What does slaka á mean, and why is the little word á at the end?

Slaka á is a phrasal verb meaning “to relax, to take it easy.”

• slaka by itself can mean “slacken, loosen (something)” (e.g. a rope).

• When combined with the preposition á, it gets the idiomatic meaning relax:

  • Ég þarf að slaka á. – I need to relax / chill out.
  • Við skulum slaka aðeins á. – Let’s calm down a bit.

The preposition á belongs to the verb; you cannot just drop it without changing the meaning.

• slaka = loosen (something)
• slaka á = relax (yourself)

So in slaka meira á, meira is an adverb (“more”), and á stays with the verb to form the full phrase slaka á = “relax.”

Could the word order be slaka á meira instead of slaka meira á?

In practice, slaka meira á is the natural and most idiomatic order here.

Adverbs like meira (more) are quite flexible, but with phrasal verbs such as slaka á, Icelandic speakers typically keep the verb + preposition closely connected and insert the adverb between them:

• slaka meira á – very natural
• slaka á meira – possible in some contexts, but sounds odd or marked here

So:

• að slaka meira á = to relax more – this is what you should learn as the default pattern.

What does meira mean exactly, and what kind of word is it?

Meira means “more”.

It is the comparative form of mikið (much, a lot). As an adverb here, it describes the degree of relaxing:

• að slaka á – to relax
• að slaka meira á – to relax more

Other examples:

• Hann vinnur meira núna. – He works more now.
• Geturðu talað aðeins meira? – Can you talk a bit more?

What does um helgar mean, and why is helgar plural?

Um helgar means “on weekends” or “at weekends.”

Breakdown:

• helgi = weekend (also holiday in some contexts)
• helgar = plural form, weekends
• um = a preposition here meaning roughly around, during → idiomatic “on” in time expressions

The phrase um helgar is a fixed, very common way to express a habitual action that happens every weekend:

• Ég vinn ekki um helgar. – I don’t work on weekends.
• Við förum oft í göngutúr um helgar. – We often go for walks on weekends.

So the plural helgar reflects that we are talking about weekends in general (habitually), not one specific upcoming weekend.

Why is it hún and not henni here? What case is hún in?

Hún is the nominative singular form of the 3rd person feminine pronoun (she).

In this clause:

• hún eigi að slaka meira á um helgar
  hún is the subject of the verb eigi (“she should”).

Subjects of finite verbs in Icelandic are usually in the nominative case, so we use hún.

Henni is the dative form (“to her / for her”), used when the pronoun is an indirect object or governed by certain prepositions or verbs. That is not the role here, so henni would be incorrect.

How do you pronounce Læknirinn and slaka á?

Approximate pronunciation (not exact IPA, but close enough for an English speaker):

Læknirinn

• læ – like English “lie” (but a bit shorter)
• kn – pronounced together; Icelanders say this cluster quite quickly, like k-n with a very light n
• i – like “i” in bit
• rinn – rolled/trilled r, plus inn where nn is short

Very rough guide: [LIEK-ni-rin], with a trilled r.

slaka á

• sla – sl as in “slap”; a like “father”
• ka – k plus a as in “father”
• á – like “ow” in cow, but usually a bit shorter and tenser

So roughly: [SLAH-ka ow] (with the ow short), and said smoothly: SLAH-ka-ow.

If you know IPA:

• Læknirinn ≈ [ˈlai̯ʰknɪrɪn]
• slaka á ≈ [ˈstlaːka au̯]

(Exact realization can vary a bit by speaker and dialect.)