Bakið er þreytt eftir göngutúr.

The back is tired after a walk.

Breakdown of Bakið er þreytt eftir göngutúr.

• vera: to be
• eftir: after
• göngutúrinn: the walk
• þreyttur: tired
• bakið: the back

Questions & Answers about Bakið er þreytt eftir göngutúr.

What does Bakið literally mean, and why does it end in -ið?

Bak is a neuter noun meaning “back” (as in body part).
The ending -ið is the definite article for neuter singular nouns.

• bak = back
• bakið = the back

So Bakið er þreytt… literally is “The back is tired…”
In context, it is understood as “My back is tired…” (see next question).

Why is there no word for “my” in Bakið er þreytt eftir göngutúr?

In Icelandic, with body parts it’s very common to use the definite form instead of a possessive pronoun:

• Bakið er þreytt.
  = literally “The back is tired.”
  = naturally understood as “My back is tired.” when I am speaking.

You can say:

• Bak mitt er þreytt. = My back is tired.

but with body parts this often sounds unnecessarily heavy or emphatic. The natural everyday choice is just the definite form bakið without mitt.

Why is the adjective þreytt in this form and not þreyttur?

Adjectives in Icelandic must agree with the noun in:

• gender
• number
• case

Here the subject is bakið, which is:

• gender: neuter
• number: singular
• case: nominative

The adjective þreyttur (tired) has these basic forms in the singular (indefinite):

• masculine: þreyttur
• feminine: þreytt
• neuter: þreytt

So with a neuter subject bak, the correct form is þreytt:

• Bakið er þreytt. = The back is tired.

How would the sentence change if the subject were “I” instead of “my back”?

With “I” as the subject, you’d use ég and make þreyttur/þreytt agree with you, not with bak.

• If you are male:

  • Ég er þreyttur eftir göngutúr.
    = I am tired after a walk.

• If you are female:

  • Ég er þreytt eftir göngutúr.
    = I am tired after a walk.

Compare:

• Bakið er þreytt eftir göngutúr.
  = My back is tired after a walk.
• Ég er þreyttur / þreytt eftir göngutúr.
  = I am tired after a walk.

What grammatical case is bakið in here, and why?

Bakið is in the nominative singular.

Reason: it is the subject of the sentence.

• Bakið (subject, nominative)
• er (verb “to be”)
• þreytt (predicate adjective describing the subject)

Subjects in simple sentences like this are normally in the nominative in Icelandic.

What does eftir mean here, and which case does it govern?

In this sentence, eftir means “after” (in a temporal sense: “after a walk”).

With this meaning, eftir takes the accusative case:

• eftir
  • göngutúr (accusative singular)
    → eftir göngutúr = after a walk

Note: eftir can also be used with the dative in some other meanings (e.g. “according to”), but with time = after X, it uses the accusative.

What form of göngutúr is used here, and what does the word literally mean?

Göngutúr is a masculine noun meaning “walk, stroll, hike”.

It is made from:

• ganga = to walk
• túr = trip, tour

So literally it’s something like “walking trip” → a walk.

In eftir göngutúr, the word is:

• masculine
• singular
• accusative (because of eftir)

For this noun, the nominative and accusative singular have the same form göngutúr, so it looks like nominative, but grammatically here it is accusative.

Why is there no article on göngutúr (no -inn)?

Icelandic has definite articles as endings (not a separate word like the), but it does not have an indefinite article (a/an).

• göngutúr
  → a walk / walk (indefinite)
• göngutúrinn
  → the walk (definite)

So:

• Bakið er þreytt eftir göngutúr.
  ≈ My back is tired after a walk.

If you specifically mean “after the walk (we just did / talked about)”, you’d say:

• Bakið er þreytt eftir göngutúrinn.
  = My back is tired after the walk.

Can this sentence also mean “My back is sore/aching after the walk”?

Yes. With body parts, þreytt often suggests soreness, aching, overworked muscles, not just “sleepy-tired.”

So:

• Bakið er þreytt eftir göngutúr.

can be understood as:

• My back is tired after a walk.
• My back is sore / aching after a walk.

Context will usually tell you whether it’s more about muscle fatigue or general tiredness.

Can I change the word order, for example put eftir göngutúr at the beginning?

Yes. Icelandic word order is flexible, but the finite verb must stay in second position (V2 rule).

Your original sentence:

• Bakið er þreytt eftir göngutúr.
  (Subject in first position)

If you move the time phrase to the front, you must keep er second:

• Eftir göngutúr er bakið þreytt.
  = After a walk, the back is tired.

Both mean the same; the second just emphasizes the time phrase (“after a walk”) more.

How do you pronounce ð in bakið and þ in þreytt?

Approximate English equivalents:

• þ (in þreytt)
  → like “th” in “thing”, “thin”
  voiceless sound.

• ð (in bakið)
  → like “th” in “this”, “that”
  voiced sound.

So very roughly:

• þreytt ≈ THRAYHT (with th as in thing)
• bakið ≈ BAH-kith (with th as in this at the end)

How do you pronounce göngutúr, and what sound does ö represent?

Göngutúr has the stress on the first syllable:

• GÖNG-u-túr

The vowel ö is usually pronounced like:

• British English: similar to the vowel in “burn” (without the r)
• American English: somewhere between “bird” and “bet”, but with lips a bit rounded.

Very rough approximation for English speakers:

• göngutúr ≈ GUNG-uh-toor
  • göng: like gung but with that ö sound instead of plain u
  • u in the second syllable is short, similar to “u” in “put”
  • túr like “toor”

More precisely in IPA (approx.): [ˈkœŋɡʏˌtʰuːr], but the rough GUNG-uh-toor is usually enough to get you close.