Vefsíðan virkar ekki í dag.

The website does not work today.

Breakdown of Vefsíðan virkar ekki í dag.

• ekki: not
• í dag: today
• virka: to work
• vefsíðan: the website

Questions & Answers about Vefsíðan virkar ekki í dag.

What does vefsíðan literally mean, and how is the word built?

Vefsíðan means the website.

It’s a compound + a definite ending:

• vef- = web (from vefur = web)
• síða = page
• vefsíða = web page / website
• -n = the attached definite article, so vefsíðan = the website (literally the web‑page).

In Icelandic, the definite article is usually added to the end of the noun as a suffix, instead of being a separate word like the in English.

Why is vefsíðan ending in -an? What gender and case is it?

Vefsíða is a feminine noun.

The basic (indefinite) form is:

• vefsíða – a website (nominative singular, indefinite)

The definite form in the nominative singular is:

• vefsíðan – the website

So in this sentence:

• vefsíðan is nominative (it’s the subject)
• it’s definite (that’s why it has -n)
• the -a
  • -n together give -an.

If you later replace it with a pronoun, you would use hún (she/it), because it’s grammatically feminine:

• Hún virkar ekki í dag. – It (the website) doesn’t work today.

What verb is virkar, and what does it literally mean?

Virkar is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb virka.

• virka = to work, to function (in the sense “to be working / functioning correctly”)
• hann/hún/það virkar = he/she/it works / is working

So vefsíðan virkar literally means the website works / the website functions.

The full basic present paradigm is:

• ég virka – I work
• þú virkar – you work (singular)
• hann/hún/það virkar – he/she/it works
• við virkum – we work
• þið virkið – you (plural) work
• þeir/þær/þau virka – they work

Why is there no word like “is” in the Icelandic sentence, even though English says “is not working”?

Icelandic normally uses the simple present verb form to cover both:

• “works” and
• “is working”.

So:

• Vefsíðan virkar ekki í dag.
  = The website does not work today.
  = The website is not working today.

You don’t say *Vefsíðan er að virka ekki í dag here. The er að + infinitive construction exists but is not used in the same way as English progressive “is doing” for this kind of simple, temporary state. The normal, natural way here is just virkar.

What does ekki mean, and why does it come after virkar?

Ekki means not.

In a normal statement, the basic word order is:

• Subject – Verb – ekki – (other stuff)

So:

• Vefsíðan (subject)
• virkar (verb)
• ekki (negation)
• í dag (time expression)

You generally cannot move ekki in front of the verb in a simple main clause:

• ✔ Vefsíðan virkar ekki í dag.
• ✘ *Vefsíðan ekki virkar í dag. (wrong in standard Icelandic)

Why is í dag at the end? Could I say Í dag virkar vefsíðan ekki?

Í dag means today, and it is a time adverbial.

Default, neutral word order places time expressions near the end:

• Vefsíðan virkar ekki í dag. – neutral word order

You can move í dag to the front for emphasis or contrast:

• Í dag virkar vefsíðan ekki. – Today the website doesn’t work (with emphasis on today; maybe yesterday it did)

Both are grammatically correct; the difference is mainly in emphasis / information structure.

What does í dag literally mean, and is that always how you say “today”?

Literally, í dag is in (the) day, but idiomatically it means today.

You basically always say í dag for today. Some related time expressions:

• í gær – yesterday
• í kvöld – this evening / tonight
• á morgun – tomorrow
• núna – now

So í dag is the standard, everyday way to say today.

How would I say this sentence in the past or future?

Past (didn’t work today):

• Vefsíðan virkaði ekki í dag. – The website didn’t work today.

Here virkaði is the 3rd person singular past tense of virka:

• ég virkaði, þú virkaðir, hann/hún/það virkaði, …

Future (won’t work tomorrow):

• Vefsíðan mun ekki virka á morgun. – The website will not work tomorrow.

Often Icelandic also just uses the present with a future time word:

• Vefsíðan virkar ekki á morgun. – The website (is) not working tomorrow.

How do I turn this into a yes/no question like “Does the website not work today?”

For a yes/no question, you move the verb in front of the subject:

• Statement: Vefsíðan virkar ekki í dag.
• Question: Virkar vefsíðan ekki í dag?

Word order:

• Verb – Subject – ekki – Time
• Virkar – vefsíðan – ekki – í dag?

This corresponds to English:

• Does the website not work today?

Could I use hún instead of vefsíðan? How would that look?

Yes. Since vefsíða is feminine, you use hún (she/it) as the pronoun:

• Hún virkar ekki í dag. – It (she) doesn’t work today.

This would usually be used when vefsíðan has already been mentioned, so it’s clear what hún refers to:

• Vefsíðan er mjög hæg. Hún virkar ekki í dag.
  The website is very slow. It isn’t working today.

Can virka be used only for websites and machines, or also for other things?

Virka is quite general. It means to work / to function / to be effective, and you can use it for many things:

• Lyfin virka ekki. – The medicine doesn’t work.
• Planið virkar ekki. – The plan doesn’t work.
• Tölvan virkar ekki. – The computer doesn’t work.
• Kerfið virkar vel. – The system works well.

So Vefsíðan virkar ekki í dag. fits the same pattern: something is not functioning as it should.

How is vefsíðan virkar ekki í dag pronounced, very roughly for an English speaker?

Very approximately (not strict IPA):

• Vefsíðan ≈ VEHV-see-thahn

  • VEF with short e (like bed)
  • sí with long ee (like see)
  • ð in -ðan is like the th in this
  • stress on the first syllable: VEF-sí-dan

• virkar ≈ VEER-kar

  • i like i in bit (but a bit tenser)
  • r is rolled/flapped
  • stress on VIR: VIR-kar

• ekki ≈ EHK-ki

  • kk pronounced as a hard k sound; you hear a slight stop
  • i like i in bit
  • stress on EK: EK-ki

• í dag ≈ ee dahg

  • í is a long ee
  • a in dag like a in father
  • g in dag is a soft sound, often a bit like a voiced gh

Main stress is always on the first syllable of each word: VEF‑síðan VIR‑kar EK‑ki Í dag.