Hann er mjög virkur í vinnunni.

He is very active at work.

Breakdown of Hann er mjög virkur í vinnunni.

• vera: to be
• hann: he
• mjög: very
• vinna: the work
• í: at
• virkur: active

Questions & Answers about Hann er mjög virkur í vinnunni.

Why is it virkur and not virk or virkt?

Because adjectives in Icelandic agree with the noun/pronoun they describe in gender, number, and case.

• Hann = he → 3rd person singular masculine nominative
• The adjective describing hann must also be masculine singular nominative.
• The base adjective is virkur (active):
  • Masculine nominative singular: virkur
  • Feminine nominative singular: virk
  • Neuter nominative singular: virkt

Since hann is masculine, you must use virkur.

What’s the role of mjög here, and where does it usually go?

Mjög means very and is an adverb of degree; it modifies the adjective virkur.

In sentences with er (is/am/are) and a following adjective, mjög normally goes directly before the adjective:

• Hann er mjög virkur. – He is very active.
• Hún er mjög virk. – She is very active.
• Þau eru mjög virk. – They are very active. (neuter plural)

Other word orders like Hann er virkur mjög are grammatically possible but sound unnatural or poetic. The neutral, everyday placement is:

subject – er – mjög – adjective

Why is it í vinnunni and not something like í vinnu?

Both exist, but they differ slightly in meaning:

• í vinnu (no article, indefinite):

  • Literally “in work” / “at work (in general)”
  • Often used about being at work as an activity or state:
    • Hann er í vinnu. – He is at work / He has a job.

• í vinnunni (with article, definite):

  • Literally “in the work” / “at the (specific) job/place of work”
  • Refers more to his particular workplace / job environment.
  • Hann er mjög virkur í vinnunni. → He is very active at his job / in his workplace.

In your sentence, the idea is “He is very active at work (in his job),” so the definite form í vinnunni fits very well.

Why does í take the dative here? What case is vinnunni?

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

• Accusative: movement into something
  • Hann fer í vinnu. – He goes to work.
• Dative: location in/at something
  • Hann er í vinnunni. – He is at work.

In your sentence we talk about being located at work (no movement), so í takes the dative case.

Vinnunni is therefore:

• Feminine
• Singular
• Dative
• Definite

“Work / the work / the job” → vinna → dative definite vinnunni.

What exactly is going on with the ending -nni in vinnunni?

That ending combines case + definiteness for a feminine noun.

Base noun: vinna (feminine) – work, job
Singular forms:

• Nominative: vinna
• Accusative: vinnu
• Dative: vinnu
• Genitive: vinnu

With the definite article (“the”), feminine dative singular becomes:

• vinnu
  • inni → vinnunni (the work / the job in dative)

So -nni here is part of the suffixed definite article in the dative singular:

• í vinnu – in/at work (indefinite)
• í vinnunni – in/at the work / job (definite)

Could I say Hann er mjög duglegur í vinnunni instead? What’s the difference between virkur and duglegur?

You can say that, but the nuance is different:

• virkur – active

  • Suggests he does a lot, is engaged, participates, doesn’t just sit idle.
  • Neutral about how effective or competent he is; focuses on activity level.

• duglegur – hard-working, diligent, industrious

  • Implies he works well, is hard-working, conscientious, does his job properly.
  • More about quality and diligence than just being active.

So:

• Hann er mjög virkur í vinnunni.

  • He’s very active at work (busy, engaged).

• Hann er mjög duglegur í vinnunni.

  • He’s very hard‑working / diligent at work.

Both are positive, but duglegur praises his work ethic, while virkur emphasizes activity and involvement.

Why do we need the pronoun Hann? Could Icelandic drop the subject like Spanish?

Icelandic normally does not drop subject pronouns the way Spanish or Italian does.

You usually must say:

• Hann er mjög virkur í vinnunni. – He is very active at work.

Just saying:

• Er mjög virkur í vinnunni.

is not grammatical in standard Icelandic (it sounds like a fragment, missing the subject).

There are rare informal omissions in commands or very casual speech, but as a learner you should always use the subject pronoun (ég, þú, hann, hún, það, við, þið, þeir, þær, þau) in full sentences.

Why is the verb er used here, and what form is it?

Er is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb vera (to be).

A few relevant forms of vera in the present tense:

• ég er – I am
• þú ert – you are (singular)
• hann / hún / það er – he / she / it is
• við erum – we are
• þið eruð – you are (plural)
• þeir / þær / þau eru – they are

Your sentence:

• Hann er mjög virkur í vinnunni.
  • Hann – he (3rd person singular)
  • er – is (3rd person singular present of vera)

So this is just the normal copula “to be” linking the subject (hann) to a description (mjög virkur í vinnunni).

Does this Icelandic present tense mean “right now” or “in general”?

The Icelandic simple present, like English, can express both:

1. Current state (right now):

   • Hann er mjög virkur í vinnunni (akkúrat núna).
   • He is very active at work (these days / currently).

2. General/habitual fact:

   • Hann er mjög virkur í vinnunni.
   • He is generally very active at work (that’s what he’s like as an employee).

Context decides which reading is intended, just as in English “He is very active at work” can be either general or about the current period.

How is Hann er mjög virkur í vinnunni pronounced? Do you really say all those consonants?

Native pronunciation tends to reduce or blend some sounds:

Approximate IPA: [han ɛr mjœːɣ ˈvɪr̥kʏr iː ˈvɪnʏnɪ]

• Hann
  
  • Often [han]; the nn may sound like a long, somewhat tense n.
• er
  
  • [ɛr]; clear r, usually trilled or tapped.
• mjög
  
  • [mjœːɣ]; jö = [jœ], g often a soft fricative [ɣ] at the end.
• virkur
  
  • [ˈvɪr̥kʏr]; the k is clear, and final -ur is usually quite reduced but still audible as [ʏr].
• í
  
  • [iː]; long ee sound.
• vinnunni
  
  • [ˈvɪnʏnɪ]; double nn sounds like a long n, stress on the first syllable VIN‑nu‑ni.

You don’t completely drop consonants, but many are short and light, especially final -ur endings.

Why is the word order Hann er mjög virkur í vinnunni? Can I move things around?

This sentence follows the normal S–V–(adverb)–complement pattern:

• Hann (Subject)
• er (Verb)
• mjög (Adverb)
• virkur í vinnunni (Predicate / complement)

In a neutral statement:

• The subject usually comes first.
• The finite verb (er) is typically second.
• Short adverbs like mjög come just before the adjective they modify.
• Prepositional phrases like í vinnunni follow the main predicate.

Possible but odd variants:

• Mjög er hann virkur í vinnunni. – Sounds emphatic or poetic, not everyday.
• Hann er virkur mjög í vinnunni. – Unnatural; learners should avoid.

For standard speech and writing, stick with:

Hann er mjög virkur í vinnunni.

How does vinna decline, so I can recognize forms like vinnunni?

Vinna (feminine, work / job) – singular:

• Nominative: vinna
• Accusative: vinnu
• Dative: vinnu
• Genitive: vinnu

With the definite article (“the”):

• Nominative: vinnan – the work
• Accusative: vinnuna
• Dative: vinnunni
• Genitive: vinnunnar

So vinnunni = dative definite singular → “to/at/in the work / the job,” as required by í + dative when expressing location.