Breakdown of Hún tekur þátt í þessum hópi einu sinni í viku.
Questions & Answers about Hún tekur þátt í þessum hópi einu sinni í viku.
Literally, "tekur þátt í" means "takes a part in".
- taka = to take
- þáttur = part, share → þátt here is the accusative singular
- í = in
So taka þátt í einhverju = to take part in something → to participate in something.
This is the standard, idiomatic way to say to participate (in) in Icelandic.
Examples:
- Ég tek þátt í verkefninu. – I take part in / participate in the project.
- Viltu taka þátt í leiknum? – Do you want to take part in the game?
So yes: when you want to say “participate in” something, taka þátt í is usually what you use.
"taka" is the infinitive form: to take.
In a sentence with a subject, you need a conjugated form.
Here, the subject is hún (she), 3rd person singular, present tense.
The present tense of taka is:
- ég tek – I take
- þú tekur – you take (singular)
- hann / hún / það tekur – he / she / it takes
- við tökum – we take
- þið takið – you (plural) take
- þeir / þær / þau taka – they take
So with hún, you correctly get hún tekur.
The pattern is:
taka þátt í + [dative object]
- taka þátt – the verb plus its direct object (þátt = part, accusative)
- í + dative – the preposition í takes the dative for “in” (location or membership)
In this sentence:
- þátt – accusative object of taka
- í þessum hópi – “in this group”, with hópi in the dative after í
So overall pattern:
[Subject] + tekur þátt í + [something in the dative].
Because í in the sense of “in (inside / as a member of)” takes the dative case, and both words have to match that:
- Base words:
- þessi hópur – this group (nominative)
- Dative singular forms:
- þessum – this (masc./fem. dative singular)
- hópi – group (masculine dative singular)
So:
- í þessum hópi = in this group (correct dative)
- í þessi hópur is ungrammatical because þessi hópur is nominative, not dative.
"hópur" means group and is:
- masculine
- a regular -ur masculine noun
Singular declension:
- Nominative: hópur – a group / the group (subject form)
- Accusative: hóp – I see a group
- Dative: hópi – in / with / from a group
- Genitive: hóps – of a group
In our sentence, after í we need the dative, so we use hópi.
Yes, Icelandic can show “definiteness” in two ways, but you normally don’t use both at once:
- Definite ending on the noun
- hópurinn – the group
- Demonstrative + noun (this/that)
- þessi hópur – this group
- sá hópur – that group
In our sentence, we use a demonstrative:
- í þessum hópi – in this group
Because þessum already makes it specific (“this”), you don’t also add a definite ending like -num (you would not say í þessum hópnum in this meaning).
Literally:
- einu – one (neuter, dative singular of einn)
- sinni – time, occasion (dative singular of sinn)
- í viku – in a week / per week (accusative of vika, week)
So word-for-word:
einu sinni í viku ≈ one time in (a) week → idiomatically once a week.
It describes a repeated, regular action: she participates every week, one time per week. It does not mean just one single time during a week.
"einu sinni" is a fixed expression meaning once.
Grammatically:
- einu is dative neuter singular of einn (one).
- sinni is dative singular of sinn (time, occasion in this idiom).
The phrase einu sinni is almost always used in this exact form; you simply learn it as the set phrase for “once”.
Other related expressions:
- tvisvar – twice
- þrisvar sinnum – three times
- margsinnis – many times
But for “once”, it’s specifically einu sinni.
"vika" (week) is feminine. Its singular forms:
- Nominative: vika – a week
- Accusative: viku – (for) a week
- Dative: viku – (in) a week
- Genitive: viku – of a week
So viku is the accusative here, but accusative and dative look the same in singular.
In expressions of duration or rate, Icelandic typically uses the accusative:
- einu sinni í viku – once per week
- tvisvar í mánuð – twice a month
- þrjá tíma í dag – three hours today
So í viku in this context is understood as per week and uses the accusative.
"Hún tekur þátt í þessum hópi einu sinni í viku." describes a habitual / regular action:
- She regularly takes part in this group, with the frequency once a week.
Icelandic present tense is used for:
- Actions happening now
- Habitual or repeated actions (like English present simple: She goes..., She works...)
The phrase einu sinni í viku makes it clear that this is not just right now, but her regular pattern.
You have some flexibility, as long as the finite verb stays in 2nd position (V2 rule in main clauses).
Neutral order (as in your sentence):
- Hún tekur þátt í þessum hópi einu sinni í viku.
You can also front the time expression:
- Einu sinni í viku tekur hún þátt í þessum hópi.
Once a week, she takes part in this group.
Both are grammatically fine and natural. What you can’t do is move the finite verb away from the second position, e.g.:
- ✗ Hún þátt tekur í þessum hópi… – incorrect
- ✗ Einu sinni í viku hún tekur þátt… – incorrect (verb must be 2nd: tekur needs to come right after Einu sinni í viku or after Hún, depending on what you put first).
Key points:
- þ in þátt
- Pronounced like unvoiced English “th” in thin, thing.
- á in þátt
- A long “ow” sound, like English “how”, but a bit shorter and tenser.
Final -tt in þátt
- A short, hard t sound (often with a bit of pre-aspiration in Icelandic, but as a learner you can just aim for a clear t).
- ó in hópi
- Like a long “o” in “go”, but tenser and purer (no diphthong).
- Stress:
- In Icelandic, stress is almost always on the first syllable:
- HÚN tekur ÞÁTT í ÞESSum HÓpi EINu SINni í VÍku.
- In Icelandic, stress is almost always on the first syllable:
You don’t have to sound perfect; being roughly close on þ and the vowel lengths already helps a lot with clarity.