Áhugamál hennar eru að lesa bækur og að dansa.

to be

Breakdown of Áhugamál hennar eru að lesa bækur og að dansa.

• bók: the book
• lesa: to read
• og: and

Questions & Answers about Áhugamál hennar eru að lesa bækur og að dansa.

Why is áhugamál plural, and what does it literally mean?

Áhugamál is the normal Icelandic word for hobby / interest.

Literally, it is a compound:

• áhugi = interest
• mál = matter, affair, issue

So áhugamál is something like “matter of interest” → hobby.

In this sentence it behaves as a plural (“hobbies”), which you see from the verb eru (“are”). For many neuter nouns ending in -mál, the singular and plural nominative forms look the same, so you need the verb to tell you if it’s singular or plural:

• Áhugamál mitt er… = My hobby is… (singular)
• Áhugamál mín eru… = My hobbies are… (plural)

Why is it hennar and not hún or henni?

Icelandic uses different forms of the pronoun “she” depending on the grammatical case:

• hún = she (nominative, subject)
• henni = to/for her (dative, indirect object)
• hennar = her / of her (genitive, possession)

In Áhugamál hennar, we are expressing possession (“her hobbies”), so we need the genitive form hennar.

Also notice that Icelandic typically puts the possessive after the noun:

• áhugamál hennar = You say , but that has a slightly different emphasis (see below on word order).