Peysan hangir á stólnum.

The sweater hangs on the chair.

Breakdown of Peysan hangir á stólnum.

• á: on
• stóll: the chair
• hanga: to hang
• peysa: the sweater

Questions & Answers about Peysan hangir á stólnum.

What does peysan mean exactly, and why does it end in -an?

Peysan means “the sweater / the jumper.”

The base word is peysa = a sweater / jumper (indefinite).
Icelandic usually doesn’t use a separate word for “the”; instead it adds a definite ending to the noun:

• peysa = a sweater
• peysan = the sweater

So the -n (here as -an) is the definite article attached to the noun.

What gender and case is peysan, and what are its main forms?

Peysan is:

• Gender: feminine
• Number: singular
• Case: nominative (it’s the subject of the verb)
• Definiteness: definite (the sweater)

A small paradigm for peysa (“sweater”):

Indefinite (a sweater):

• Nominative: peysa – A sweater is on the chair.
• Accusative: peysu – Ég kaupi peysU. – I buy a sweater.
• Dative: peysu – Ég er í peysU. – I am in a sweater.
• Genitive: peysu – Litur peysU. – The colour of a sweater.

Definite (the sweater):

• Nominative: peysan – Peysan hangir á stólnum.
• Accusative: peysuna – Ég kaupi peysuna. – I buy the sweater.
• Dative: peysunni – Ég er í peysunni. – I am in the sweater.
• Genitive: peysunnar – Litur peysunnar. – The colour of the sweater.

What verb form is hangir, and what is its infinitive?

Hangir is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb að hanga = to hang.

Basic present tense of hanga:

• ég hangi – I hang / I am hanging
• þú hangir – you hang
• hann/hún/það hangir – he/she/it hangs
• við hangum – we hang
• þið hangið – you (pl.) hang
• þeir/þær/þau hanga – they hang

So in Peysan hangir á stólnum, hangir matches the 3rd person singular subject peysan (the sweater).

Note that Icelandic present tense covers both English “hangs” and “is hanging”. Context decides which English form is best.

Why isn’t there a word meaning “is” in “Peysan hangir á stólnum”? Why not “Peysan er að hanga…”?

Icelandic usually uses a simple present verb where English often uses “is …-ing.”

• Peysan hangir á stólnum
  = The sweater is hanging on the chair.

You can say Peysan er að hanga á stólnum, but:

• er að + infinitive is more like English “is in the process of hanging”, emphasizing an ongoing activity.
• With a state-like position (just hanging there), the plain verb (hangir) is the usual, natural choice.

So hangir alone already expresses “is hanging”.

What does stólnum mean, and why does it look so different from stóll?

The base word is stóll = a chair (nominative singular, indefinite).

Stólnum means “the chair” in the dative singular:

• stól- : stem of the noun
• -um : dative singular ending for many masculine nouns
• -num : the definite article in the dative singular masculine, merged with -um

So:

• stól
  • um
    • innum → stólnum (by regular sound/ending simplification)

A small paradigm for stóll (“chair”):

Indefinite (a chair):

• Nominative: stóll – a chair
• Accusative: stól – I see a chair.
• Dative: stól – I sit on a chair.
• Genitive: stóls – the leg of a chair.

Definite (the chair):

• Nominative: stóllinn – the chair
• Accusative: stólinn – I see the chair.
• Dative: stólnum – I sit on the chair.
• Genitive: stólsins – the leg of the chair.

In á stólnum, stólnum is dative definite: on the chair.

Which case does á take here, and how does that work with stólnum?

The preposition á can take dative or accusative, depending on the meaning:

• á + dative: location / “where something is” → on / at / in
• á + accusative: direction / “onto, to” → movement to a place

In Peysan hangir á stólnum:

• The sweater is located on the chair (no movement),
  so á takes the dative → á stólnum (on the chair).

Compare:

• Bókin er á borðinu. – The book is on the table. (dative → location)
• Hann setur bókina á borðið. – He puts the book onto the table. (accusative → movement)

So here:

• á (on) + stólnum (dative definite of stóll) = “on the chair.”

Can I change the word order, or must it be “Peysan hangir á stólnum”?

The neutral word order is Subject – Verb – (rest), just like English:

• Peysan hangir á stólnum.

But Icelandic follows a “verb-second” (V2) rule in main clauses: the finite verb tends to be in second position. You can move other elements to the front for emphasis as long as the verb stays second:

• Á stólnum hangir peysan.
  = On the chair hangs the sweater. (emphasis on on the chair)

This is correct and natural, just more marked/emphatic.

Something like *Peysan á stólnum hangir (verb not second) is only really acceptable in poetic or special stylistic contexts, not as normal everyday prose.

What would the sentence look like without “the”, and how would the meaning change?

If you make both nouns indefinite, you remove the definite endings:

• Peysa hangir á stól.
  = A sweater is hanging on a chair.

Now:

• peysa = a sweater (no -n)
• stól = a chair (no -num, just bare dative/accusative form)

You can also mix definite and indefinite, for example:

• Peysa hangir á stólnum. – A sweater is hanging on the chair.
• Peysan hangir á stól. – The sweater is hanging on a chair.

How do you pronounce “Peysan hangir á stólnum”?

Approximate English-style pronunciation (very rough):

• Peysan ≈ “PAY-sahn”
• hangir ≈ “HOWN-gir” (g a bit like “gyir”)
• á ≈ “ow” as in cow
• stólnum ≈ “STOHL-num”

Put together:

• Peysan hangir á stólnum ≈ “PAY-sahn HOWN-gir ow STOHL-num”

More precise (IPA, approximate Icelandic):

• Peysan [ˈpʰeiːsan]
• hangir [ˈhauŋcɪr]
• á [auː]
• stólnum [ˈstoutnʏm]

What sounds do the letters ey, á, and ó represent in this sentence?

In this sentence:

• ey (in peysan) is a diphthong, pronounced roughly like “ay” in day:

  • ey ≈ [ei]

• á (the word á) is another diphthong, like “ow” in cow:

  • á ≈ [au]

• ó (in stólnum) is a long o sound, similar to the “o” in go or home:

  • ó ≈ [ou] / [oʊ]

These are distinct vowel sounds in Icelandic; you can’t swap them without changing the word.