Andlitið hennar er fallegt.

to be

Breakdown of Andlitið hennar er fallegt.

• hennar: her
• fallegt: beautiful
• andlitið: the face

Questions & Answers about Andlitið hennar er fallegt.

What does each Icelandic word correspond to in English, grammatically speaking?

The sentence Andlitið hennar er fallegt. can be broken down like this:

• Andlitið – the face

  • andlit = face (neuter noun)
  • -ið = the suffixed definite article for neuter singular (the)
  • So andlitið = the face.

• hennar – her (possessive), literally of her

  • This is the genitive form of the pronoun hún (she).

• er – is

  • 3rd person singular present of að vera (to be).

• fallegt – beautiful

  • Adjective meaning beautiful, pretty, here in the neuter singular form to agree with andlitið.

Literal structure: The face her is beautiful.
Natural English: Her face is beautiful.

Why does andlitið end in -ið? I thought andlit was face.

You are right that the basic word is andlit (face). The form andlitið has the definite article attached:

• andlit = face (indefinite)
• andlitið = the face (definite)

In Icelandic, the definite article is usually a suffix, not a separate word like English the. For neuter nouns in the nominative singular, the definite ending is -ið.

So:

• andlit – a face / face (in general)
• andlitið – the face (a specific one we have in mind)

In this sentence, we are talking about a particular face (her face), so the definite form andlitið is used.

Why is it andlitið hennar instead of hennar andlit, like English her face?

In normal, neutral Icelandic, possessive pronouns usually come after the noun, not before it. So:

• Neutral: andlitið hennar – her face
• Less neutral / more emphatic: hennar andlit

Putting the possessive before the noun (hennar andlit) is possible, but:

• it is less common in everyday speech,
• it often has a slightly emphatic or contrastive feel, like her face (as opposed to someone else’s).

So if you just want to say Her face is beautiful in a normal way, you say:

• Andlitið hennar er fallegt.

Isn’t andlitið hennar like saying “the her face”? Why do you need both -ið and hennar?

It feels redundant from an English perspective, but in Icelandic this is normal and idiomatic.

Think of it like this:

• andlitið – marks the noun as definite (the face).
• hennar – adds who it belongs to (her).

This pattern (definite noun + possessive pronoun after it) is very common:

• bíllinn minn – my car (literally: the‑car mine)
• nafnið þitt – your name (literally: the‑name yours)
• húsið hans – his house (literally: the‑house his)
• andlitið hennar – her face (literally: the‑face her)

So, in Icelandic, “the X my/your/his/her” is exactly how you normally express simple possession with pronouns.

What form of hún is hennar, and why is that form used here?

Hennar is the genitive form of the pronoun hún (she). The main forms of hún are:

• hún – nominative (she, as the subject)
• hana – accusative (her, as a direct object)
• henni – dative (to/for her)
• hennar – genitive (her / of her in a possessive sense)

In andlitið hennar, we are expressing possession (the face of her → her face), and possession in Icelandic is typically shown with the genitive case. That’s why hennar (genitive) is used, not hún, hana, or henni.

Why is the adjective fallegt and not falleg or fallegur?

Adjectives in Icelandic agree with the noun in:

• gender (masculine / feminine / neuter),
• number (singular / plural),
• case (nominative / accusative / dative / genitive).

The noun here is andlitið:

• gender: neuter
• number: singular
• case: nominative (it’s the subject)

So the adjective falleg (“beautiful”) must take the neuter singular nominative ending, which is -t:

• masculine nominative singular: fallegur – beautiful (m.)
• feminine nominative singular: falleg – beautiful (f.)
• neuter nominative singular: fallegt – beautiful (n.)

Since andlitið is neuter, you say:

• Andlitið hennar er fallegt. – Her face is beautiful.

Compare:

• Maðurinn er fallegur. – The man is beautiful. (masc.)
• Konan er falleg. – The woman is beautiful. (fem.)
• Húsið er fallegt. – The house is beautiful. (neuter, like andlitið).

Could I say Andlit hennar er fallegt without the -ið, or is that wrong?

Andlit hennar er fallegt is not strictly ungrammatical, but for everyday, neutral Icelandic, Andlitið hennar er fallegt is clearly more natural and idiomatic.

As a learner, you should treat the pattern:

• [definite noun] + [possessive pronoun]

as the normal default when you say things like my X, your X, his X, her X:

• andlitið hennar – her face
• húsið hans – his house
• nafnið mitt – my name
• bíllinn þinn – your car

The version andlit hennar does occur (especially in certain styles or contexts), but it’s less typical for a simple neutral statement like this. So stick with andlitið hennar.

How would I say similar sentences like My face is beautiful or His face is beautiful?

You keep the same structure and just change the possessive word:

Pattern: Andlitið [possessive] er fallegt.

For different people:

• Andlitið mitt er fallegt. – My face is beautiful.

  • mitt = my (neuter, agreeing with andlitið)

• Andlitið þitt er fallegt. – Your face is beautiful. (singular “you”)

  • þitt = your (neuter)

• Andlitið hans er fallegt. – His face is beautiful.

  • hans = his (genitive of hann, he)

• Andlitið hennar er fallegt. – Her face is beautiful. (our original sentence)

• Andlitið okkar er fallegt. – Our face is beautiful. (a bit odd semantically, but grammatically correct)

• Andlitið ykkar er fallegt. – Your face is beautiful. (plural “you”)

• Andlitið þeirra er fallegt. – Their face is beautiful. (again odd semantically, but structurally fine)

Notice that for first and second person, the possessive also changes form to agree with a neuter noun:

• mitt, þitt, okkar, ykkar, þeirra, etc., all used after the noun:
  andlitið mitt, andlitið þitt, etc.

Could I also say Hún er falleg instead of Andlitið hennar er fallegt? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say both, but they are not the same:

• Hún er falleg. – She is beautiful.

  • This describes the whole person as beautiful.

• Andlitið hennar er fallegt. – Her face is beautiful.

  • This specifically describes her face, not necessarily the rest of her appearance or anything else.

So grammatically both are fine, but they talk about different things:

• Hún is the person.
• Andlitið hennar is specifically her face.

How do you pronounce Andlitið hennar er fallegt?

Approximate pronunciation with English-like hints:

• Andlitið ≈ AUNT-li-thith

  • Stress on the first syllable: AND‑
  • ð at the end sounds like the soft th in this, often a bit weaker at the very end.

• hennar ≈ HEN-nar

  • Stress on HEN‑.

• er ≈ ehr

  • Short e like in bet, and a trilled or tapped r.

• fallegt ≈ FAH-lyecht

  • Stress on FAL‑.
  • ll before e is pronounced a bit like tl in Icelandic (you may hear something like faht-lyekt).
  • Final gt sounds something like cht/kht for many learners’ ears.

In IPA (one possible transcription):

• Andlitið hennar er fallegt → [ˈantlɪˌtɪð ˈhɛnar̥ ɛr ˈfatlɛxt]

Key special letters:

• ð / ð – like th in this (never like an English d).
• ll (in fallegt) – often realized somewhat like tl with a little extra friction; don’t worry about perfecting this immediately—getting the vowel sounds and stress right is more important at first.