Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Fréttin er áhugaverð.

Gender & noun type: frétt is a feminine noun.
Case: It is the subject of the sentence, and subjects in basic sentences are in the nominative case.
Number: It refers to one piece of news, so it’s singular.
Definite: The -in marks it as definite (“the”).

A mini-paradigm (nominative only, for feel):

Indefinite: frétt – (a) news item
Definite: fréttin – the news item
Plural indefinite: fréttir – news items / “news”
Plural definite: fréttirnar – the news items / “the news” (more than one)

Why does the adjective appear as áhugaverð? What is its base form?

The base dictionary form of the adjective is áhugaverður – interesting.

Icelandic adjectives agree with the noun they describe in:

Gender
Number
Case

Here the noun fréttin is feminine, singular, nominative, so the adjective must be in feminine singular nominative too:

Masculine: áhugaverður (e.g. Bíllinn er áhugaverður. – The car is interesting.)
Feminine: áhugaverð (e.g. Fréttin er áhugaverð. – The news is interesting.)
Neuter: áhugavert (e.g. Málið er áhugavert. – The matter is interesting.)

So áhugaverð is simply the feminine matching form of áhugaverður.

How would the sentence change if I talk about news (plural) instead of one piece of news?

For plural, both the noun and the adjective change:

Singular:
- Fréttin er áhugaverð. – The news (item) is interesting.
Plural:
- Fréttirnar eru áhugaverðar. – The news (items) are interesting.

Changes:

fréttin → fréttirnar
- frétt (sg) → fréttir (pl)
- fréttirnar = the news items / the news (plural definite)
er → eru (3rd person singular → 3rd person plural of vera)
áhugaverð → áhugaverðar (feminine plural nominative form of the adjective)

In English “news” is usually uncountable. Why is Icelandic using a countable noun here?

English:

news is mostly uncountable: The news is interesting.

Icelandic:

frétt is a countable noun: literally a news item, a report, a piece of news.
fréttin is “the news item / the report”, but often translated simply as “the news”.
fréttir (plural) can mean:
- news items in general
- the TV/radio news program: Horfa á fréttirnar – watch the news.

So Fréttin er áhugaverð literally refers to one particular news item, but natural English usually just says “the news is interesting” for that context.

Could I change the word order to “Áhugaverð er fréttin”? What would that mean?

Yes, you can say:

Áhugaverð er fréttin.

Grammatically it’s correct and still means “The news is interesting.”
The difference is emphasis:

Fréttin er áhugaverð. – neutral statement, normal word order (Subject–Verb–Complement).
Áhugaverð er fréttin. – puts extra focus on “áhugaverð” (interesting), something like:
- “Interesting – that’s what the news is.”
- or “Interesting is the news.” (poetic / emphatic).

This inverted order sounds more stylistic or emphatic, not the everyday neutral way of saying it.

How do you pronounce “Fréttin er áhugaverð”?

Approximate pronunciation (with stress and rough English-like hints):

Fréttin – [ˈfrjɛhtɪn]
- frj- like fry but shorter
- é like ye in yes or e in get
- tt pronounced with a little puff of air, a bit like t in hot tea said quickly
- -in like -in in linen
er – [ɛr]
- like air but shorter and with a clear r (rolled or tapped)
áhugaverð – approx. [ˈauːhʏɣaˌvɛrð]
- á like ow in cow
- hu a bit like hoo but short and with Icelandic [ʏ] (between u and i)
- ga with a soft g, closer to a soft gh in the throat
- verð: v as in very, e like get, and final ð is a soft th as in this (voiced)

Stress is on the first syllable of Fréttin and Áhugaverð (Icelandic almost always stresses the first syllable).

What is the literal meaning or structure of the word áhugaverð?

Áhugaverð comes from:

áhugi – interest
-verður – an old adjective element meaning “worthy”

So áhugaverður / -á / -t literally means:

“worthy of interest”, i.e. interesting.

You can see the same -verður element in e.g.:

eftirsóknarverður – desirable (lit. “worthy of being sought after”)

How would I say “the interesting news” instead of “the news is interesting”?

If the adjective comes before the noun (“the interesting news”), Icelandic uses the weak declension of the adjective with a definite noun:

Áhugaverða fréttin – the interesting news item

Compare:

Fréttin er áhugaverð. – The news is interesting. (predicative use, strong form áhugaverð)
Áhugaverða fréttin – The interesting news (item). (attributive to a definite noun, weak form áhugaverða)

So:

Predicative (after er): áhugaverð
Attributive + definite noun (before noun): áhugaverða fréttin

How would I say “A news item is interesting” or “One piece of news is interesting”?

Icelandic has no separate word for “a”, so you normally just use the indefinite noun without an article:

Frétt er áhugaverð.
Literally: News-item is interesting.

If you really want to stress “one (single) news item”, you can add ein (one, feminine):

Ein frétt er áhugaverð. – One news item is interesting.

But in natural use, people more often talk about:

Þessi frétt er áhugaverð. – This piece of news is interesting.
(þessi = this)

How would I say “The news was interesting” or “will be interesting”?

Just change the verb er (is) to the appropriate tense of vera (to be):

Present:
- Fréttin er áhugaverð. – The news is interesting.
Past (preterite):
- Fréttin var áhugaverð. – The news was interesting.
  (3rd person singular past of vera = var)
Future-like meaning: Icelandic often uses munu + vera, or just context:
- Fréttin verður áhugaverð. – The news will be interesting.
  (3rd person singular future-like of vera = verður)

Is áhugaverð closer to “interesting,” “exciting,” or “fascinating”?

Áhugaverð most directly corresponds to “interesting”:

It means something catches your interest or is worth paying attention to.
It does not automatically imply strong excitement or thrill; it’s more neutral.

For stronger nuance, Icelandic might use e.g.:

spennandi – exciting, suspenseful
heillandi – captivating, charming
mjög áhugaverð – very interesting

So in this sentence, áhugaverð is best translated as simple “interesting.”