Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Við hittumst í skóginum þar sem tréð er mjög hátt. - We meet in the forest where the tree is very tall.

hitta (að hitta) = to meet (someone)
- Við hittum hann = We met him / we meet him
hittast (að hittast) = to meet each other
- Við hittumst = We meet (each other) / We are meeting (each other)

The -st ending often adds a reflexive or reciprocal meaning in Icelandic. Using við hittum without -st would normally require an object (someone you meet). Here, because the meaning is we meet each other, Icelandic uses hittumst.

Is Við hittumst in the present or the past tense here?

Formally, við hittumst can be either present or past, depending on context, but in this sentence it is most naturally read as present:

Present: við hittumst = we meet (each other) / we are meeting (each other)
Past: við hittumst can also mean we met (each other), but then you’d usually expect the rest of the context to be in the past too, for example:
- Við hittumst í skóginum þar sem tréð var mjög hátt.
  We met in the forest where the tree was very tall.

Because the sentence has er (tréð er mjög hátt – the tree is very tall, present tense), the whole sentence naturally reads in the present.

Why is it í skóginum and not í skógur or í skógi?

Three things are happening in í skóginum:

Preposition + case:
- í (in) takes the dative case when it describes a static location (being in a place).
- The noun skógur (forest) in dative singular is skógi.
- So without the article, í skógi = in a forest.
Definite article:
- skógur (forest)
  - Nominative: skógur (a forest)
  - Dative: skógi (in a forest)
  - Dative + definite article: skóginum (in the forest)
- Article is attached as an ending in Icelandic: skógi + -num → skóginum.
Meaning choice:
- í skógi = in a forest (any forest, not specified)
- í skóginum = in the forest (a particular forest that speaker and listener know about)

So í skóginum is literally in the-forest, dative singular, because of í and the definite meaning.

What exactly does þar sem mean, and how is it different from just þar or just sem?

Þar sem is a two‑word conjunction that introduces a subordinate clause and usually translates as where (sometimes since or because in other contexts).

þar = there
sem = a very flexible little word used like that / which / who / where / when, depending on context.

Together:

þar sem tréð er mjög hátt
Literally: there that the tree is very tall
Natural English: where the tree is very tall

Comparison:

þar alone:
- Við hittumst þar. = We meet there. (No extra clause)
sem alone as a relative marker:
- tréð sem er mjög hátt = the tree that is very tall

So þar sem is used to introduce a full clause of place: where something happens / is true.

Why is the word order þar sem tréð er mjög hátt and not þar sem er tréð mjög hátt?

In Icelandic:

Main clauses are usually verb‑second (the finite verb is in the 2nd position):
- Við hittumst í skóginum.
  (1) Við – (2) hittumst – (3+) í skóginum
Subordinate clauses (introduced by words like sem, að, þar sem) are not verb‑second. The finite verb usually comes later, after the subject.

So in the subordinate clause þar sem tréð er mjög hátt:

Subject: tréð
Verb: er
Adjectival phrase: mjög hátt

Correct clause order is: tréð er mjög hátt, not er tréð mjög hátt.

Using þar sem er tréð mjög hátt would sound like a main‑clause word order inside a subordinate clause and is ungrammatical in standard Icelandic.

Why is it tréð and not just tré?

Tré is a tree, and tréð is the tree.

Base noun (indefinite): tré (neuter)
With the definite article: tréið → tréð (spelled tréð, pronounced like tréð)

The sentence refers to a specific tree that is known or identifiable in the context:

þar sem tréð er mjög hátt
where the tree is very tall (that particular tree in that forest)

If you said:

þar sem tré er mjög hátt

it would sound like you are speaking about a tree (any tree) that is very tall, not a specific one that both speaker and listener know about. Using the definite form tréð tells us which tree is meant (at least in the context).

Why is the adjective hátt used, and not hár or háttur?

The base form in dictionaries is hár (tall), but adjectives must agree with the noun in:

Gender
Number
Case

Here:

Noun: tréð (the tree)
- Gender: neuter
- Number: singular
- Case: nominative (it’s the subject)
Adjective hár in nominative singular:
- Masculine: hár
- Feminine: há
- Neuter: hátt

Since tréð is neuter, the adjective must also be neuter, giving:

tréð er hátt = the tree is tall

So:

Not hár (masculine form)
Not háttur (that would be trying to make it into a separate noun)
Correct: hátt (neuter form agreeing with tréð)

The article only appears on the noun (tréð), not on the adjective.

Could I say tréð er mjög hár instead of tréð er mjög hátt?

No, not in standard grammar.

Tréð is a neuter noun, so the adjective must be in the neuter form:

tréð er mjög hátt ✅ (correct: neuter adjective with neuter noun)
tréð er mjög hár ❌ (incorrect: masculine adjective with neuter noun)

If the subject were masculine, you’d use hár:

maðurinn er mjög hár = the man is very tall

But with neuter nouns like tré or hús, you use the neuter form hátt:

tréð er hátt = the tree is tall
húsið er hátt = the house is tall (e.g. a tall building)

What is the difference between Við hittumst and something like Við sjáumst?

Both are common ways to talk about meeting in Icelandic, but they feel slightly different:

Við hittumst
- From hittast (to meet each other)
- Neutral, can be planned or unplanned:
  - Við hittumst oft í skóginum.
    We often meet in the forest.
Við sjáumst
- From sjást (to see each other)
- Often used more like see you, especially for arranged or expected meetings:
  - Við sjáumst á morgun.
    See you tomorrow.

In your sentence, Við hittumst í skóginum þar sem tréð er mjög hátt, the focus is on the act of meeting each other in that place, so hittumst is the natural choice.

Can í skóginum move in the sentence, like Við hittumst þar sem tréð er mjög hátt í skóginum?

You can move í skóginum, but the meaning and naturalness change slightly.

Original:
- Við hittumst í skóginum þar sem tréð er mjög hátt.
  Focus: We meet in the forest, and that forest is described as the place where the tree is very tall.
Moved:
- Við hittumst þar sem tréð er mjög hátt í skóginum. This is understandable, but it sounds less natural and can be a bit confusing: it now leans towards:
  - We meet where the tree is very tall in the forest. The phrase í skóginum seems to modify hátt or the whole clause, and the sentence feels less clean.

Icelandic allows fairly flexible word order, but the original order:

Við hittumst [í skóginum] [þar sem tréð er mjög hátt].

is clearer: place of meeting first, then a describing clause about that place.

In English I could say “the tree that is very tall”. Where is that in the Icelandic clause þar sem tréð er mjög hátt?

Icelandic uses sem to cover many functions of English that / which / who / where / when.

You actually have two options in Icelandic:

Place‑clause with þar sem:
- í skóginum þar sem tréð er mjög hátt
  in the forest where the tree is very tall
Relative clause with sem after the noun:
- tréð sem er mjög hátt
  the tree that is very tall

So, depending on what you are expressing:

sem alone often corresponds to that / which / who:
- tréð sem er mjög hátt = the tree that is very tall
þar sem specifically introduces a clause of place:
- þar sem tréð er mjög hátt = where the tree is very tall

In your sentence, the “that” idea is contained in sem, but packaged as þar sem to mean where.

Why does í take the dative here? When would it take a different case?

The preposition í can take either dative or accusative, depending on meaning:

Dative = location (being in/at a place)
- Við hittumst í skóginum.
  We meet in the forest. (we are located there)
- Hann býr í Reykjavík.
  He lives in Reykjavík.
- Noun goes into dative: skóginum (dative), Reykjavík (unchanged form, but conceptually dative).
Accusative = movement into a place (going into)
- Við förum í skóginn.
  We go into the forest.
- Hún fer í Reykjavík.
  She is going to Reykjavík.
- Noun goes into accusative: skóginn (accusative), etc.

In your sentence nothing is moving; the meeting happens in the forest, so í requires the dative:

í skóginum (not í skóginn) because it is where we meet, not where we are going.