Questions & Answers about Ég er virkur á virkum dögum.
The underlying word is the same adjective virkur, but it’s used with two slightly different meanings here.
- In Ég er virkur, virkur means active (as a personal quality: I am an active person / I am active).
- In á virkum dögum, virkum is the same adjective virkur, but here it describes dagar (days) and means working / weekday.
So the whole sentence means something like: I am active on working days / on weekdays. The repetition sounds a bit playful in Icelandic, but it’s still perfectly natural.
Because adjectives in Icelandic change form to agree with the noun’s case, number, and gender.
Ég er virkur:
- Ég is masculine singular (by default for a male speaker).
- The adjective agreeing with it is virkur (masc. nominative singular).
á virkum dögum:
- á in this meaning (“on weekdays, generally”) takes the dative case.
- dagar (days) in dative plural is dögum.
- The adjective must match that: virkum (masc. dative plural) + dögum (masc. dative plural).
So the form changes from virkur to virkum because the grammar around it changes.
The base noun is dagur (day). Its plural forms are:
- Nominative plural: dagar (days – subject form)
- Dative plural: dögum (used after certain prepositions, including á in this meaning)
In á virkum dögum, the preposition á requires the dative here, so dagar becomes dögum. That’s why you see dögum, not dagar.
With time expressions, á + dative is the standard way to say on [these days] in general in Icelandic, e.g.:
- á mánudögum – on Mondays
- á virkum dögum – on weekdays
Using í (in) would not be idiomatic for this meaning. Í dögum would sound more like inside days and is not how Icelandic expresses recurring days or weekdays. For “on weekdays” in this generic, habitual sense, you say á virkum dögum.
Yes. virkir dagar are the working days / weekdays (Monday to Friday, in a typical work week).
So á virkum dögum strongly suggests on weekdays (as opposed to weekends). It can be understood as “on working days” in general, but in everyday speech that usually contrasts with um helgar (on weekends).
Here are some natural equivalents:
I am active every day.
- Ég er virkur á hverjum degi. (lit. I am active on each day.)
- Or more casually: Ég er virkur alla daga. (lit. I am active all days.)
I am only active on weekends.
- Ég er bara virkur um helgar. (lit. I am only active during weekends.)
Notice the different prepositions: á for “on (each) day(s)” and um often for “during” a broader time like helgar (weekends).
Adjectives also agree with the gender of the subject. For a female speaker:
- Ég er virk á virkum dögum.
Only the first adjective changes: virkur → virk (fem. nominative singular).
The part á virkum dögum stays the same, because it agrees with dögum (masc. plural noun), not with the person speaking.
Yes, they have different nuances:
- Ég er virkur – I am active (I do a lot, I participate, I’m not passive).
- Ég er duglegur / dugleg – I am hard‑working / diligent / industrious.
- Ég er hress – I am energetic / in good spirits / lively.
In Ég er virkur á virkum dögum, the focus is on being active / doing things on weekdays, not necessarily on being especially hardworking or cheerful.
You could, but it would sound unusual and slightly marked.
The most natural word order is:
- Ég er virkur á virkum dögum.
Putting á virkum dögum before virkur would usually require a special emphasis or contrast in context (for example in poetry or in a very specific intonation). For everyday speech, keep the adjective close to ég er as in the original.
Approximate English-friendly pronunciations:
- virkur – [VIRK-ur], with a trilled r, both syllables short.
- virkum – [VIRK-um], same start as virkur, but ending in -um.
- dögum – [DŒG-um], where ö is like the vowel in English bird (for many accents), but rounded; again ending in -um.
Stress is always on the first syllable in these words: VIR-kur, VIR-kum, DÖG-um.