Með hverri áskorun safna ég meiri reynslu.

With every challenge I collect more experience.

Breakdown of Með hverri áskorun safna ég meiri reynslu.

• ég: I
• með: with
• hver: every
• meiri: more
• áskorun: the challenge
• safna: to collect
• reynsla: the experience

Questions & Answers about Með hverri áskorun safna ég meiri reynslu.

What does með mean in this sentence, and what does it do grammatically?

Here með means “with” in the sense of “together with / accompanying”:

• Með hverri áskorun ≈ “with each challenge” or “every time I face a challenge”.

Grammatically, með is a preposition that (in this meaning) takes the dative case. That’s why both hverri and áskorun are in the dative form here.

Why is it hverri and not hver, hverja, or something else?

Hverri is the feminine dative singular form of hver (“each / every / which / who”).

• The noun áskorun (“challenge”) is feminine.
• The preposition með (in this sense of “with”) requires the dative case.
• We are talking about one challenge at a time: “each challenge” → singular.

So we need: feminine + singular + dative → hverri.

A mini overview for hver (singular):

• Masculine:
  
  • Nom: hver
  • Acc: hvern
  • Dat: hverjum
  • Gen: hvers
• Feminine:
  
  • Nom: hver
  • Acc: hverja
  • Dat: hverri ← used here
  • Gen: hverrar
• Neuter:
  
  • Nom/Acc: hvert
  • Dat: hverju
  • Gen: hvers

What case is áskorun in, and how do we know?

In með hverri áskorun, áskorun is in the dative singular.

We know this because:

1. Með (in the sense “with”) takes the dative case.
2. The noun áskorun (“challenge”) has these singular forms roughly:
   • Nom: áskorun
   • Acc: áskorun
   • Dat: áskorun
   • Gen: áskorunar

So nominative, accusative, and dative singular all look the same: áskorun.
Here we call it dative because of the preposition með, even though the form itself doesn’t visibly change.

Why is the verb safna used here instead of something like fá or öðlast?

Safna literally means “to collect, to gather (up), to accumulate.”

In Icelandic it is very natural to say:

• safna reynslu – “to accumulate / gather experience”
• safna peningum – “to collect money”
• safna stigum – “to collect / accumulate points”

So Með hverri áskorun safna ég meiri reynslu is like saying:

• “With each challenge I collect / build up more experience.”

You could use other verbs in slightly different styles:

• Ég fæ meiri reynslu – “I get more experience” (more neutral “get”)
• Ég öðlast meiri reynslu – “I gain / acquire more experience” (a bit more formal/lofty)

But safna reynslu is a very idiomatic and common pairing.

What person and tense is safna ég, and why is the word order “safna ég” instead of “ég safna”?

• safna is present tense, 1st person singular (“I collect / I gather”).
• The subject is ég (“I”).

Icelandic main clauses normally follow a V2 word order (verb in second position). Something has been put in front of the verb:

• Fronted phrase: Með hverri áskorun (counts as position 1)
• Then the finite verb: safna (position 2)
• Then the subject: ég

So:

• Með hverri áskorun (1) safna (2) ég (3) meiri reynslu.

If you start the sentence with the subject instead, you get:

• Ég safna meiri reynslu með hverri áskorun.

Both are correct. The original just emphasizes the “with each challenge” part by putting it first.

What case is reynslu in, and why does it end in -u?

Reynslu is in the dative singular here, because:

• The verb safna governs the dative case.
• So its object “experience” must be in the dative: reynslu.

The noun reynsla (“experience” as a mass/abstract noun) has roughly:

• Nom: reynsla
• Acc: reynslu
• Dat: reynslu
• Gen: reynslu

So the oblique cases (acc/dat/gen) are all reynslu. In this sentence we call it dative because it’s the object of safna, a dative-governing verb.

What exactly is meiri doing here? Is it an adjective, and does it have to agree with reynslu?

Meiri is the comparative form of the adjective mikill (“much, many, a lot (of)”).

• mikill reynsla (not really used this way) → “much experience”
• meiri reynsla → “more experience”

So in meiri reynslu, meiri is an adjective meaning “more”, modifying reynslu (“experience”).

Comparative adjectives like meiri have fewer visible endings than positive adjectives, and in this position it just appears as meiri before the noun. You don’t add an extra -a or anything; meiri + reynslu is the standard form.

Why isn’t there any article, like áskoruninni or reynslunni?

There are two separate points here:

1. “Each challenge” in Icelandic:

   • English uses the determiner “each / every”, not “the”.
   • Icelandic also uses hver without a definite ending: hver áskorun, hverri áskorun.
   • You don’t say hverri áskoruninni here; that would be more like “each of the challenge(s)” and feels wrong or at least very marked in this context.

2. “Experience” as a mass noun:

   • Reynsla is an abstract/mass noun like “experience” in English.
   • In a general statement “I gain more experience”, you don’t use the definite: you say meiri reynslu, not meiri reynsluna.
   • reynslan / reynslunni would mean “the experience” in some very specific, previously mentioned sense.

So: no articles here because we have “each” + a general mass noun.

Could the word order be different while keeping the same meaning?

Yes. All of these are grammatical, with subtle shifts in emphasis:

1. Með hverri áskorun safna ég meiri reynslu.
   – Fronted phrase “with each challenge” is emphasized.

2. Ég safna meiri reynslu með hverri áskorun.
   – More neutral; starts with the subject “I”.

3. Meiri reynslu safna ég með hverri áskorun.
   – Puts extra emphasis on “more experience”.

The core meaning (“I gain more experience with each challenge”) stays the same, but Icelandic uses word order quite flexibly to highlight different parts of the sentence.

Could I say í hverri áskorun or við hverja áskorun instead of með hverri áskorun?

You might occasionally see other prepositions, but they don’t mean quite the same thing:

• með hverri áskorun
  – “with each challenge”, focusing on what accompanies each challenge (here: more experience).

• í hverri áskorun
  – literally “in each challenge”; sounds more like “inside each challenge” or “within each challenge”, and would usually be used in a different kind of sentence (e.g. talking about what something contains).

• við hverja áskorun
  – “at each challenge / by each challenge / against each challenge”; this can sound like “in relation to each challenge” or even “against every challenge”. It doesn’t naturally express the idea of accumulating experience along with the challenge.

For the idea “every time there is a challenge, I gain experience together with it”, með hverri áskorun is the idiomatic choice.

How do you pronounce Með hverri áskorun safna ég meiri reynslu?

A rough pronunciation guide (not strict IPA, but close enough for an English speaker):

• Með – like “meh-th”, with a soft voiced th (as in “this”), long e.
• hverri – “kveh-rri”; the hv is pronounced like kv, and the rr is a rolled/trilled r.
• áskorun – roughly “OWS-ko-run”:
  
  • á like English “ow” in “cow”,
  • o in ko like “o” in “born” (but shorter),
  • final -un like a short “oon” with a very short vowel.
• safna – “SAHP-na”, with short a like in “cup”.
• ég – usually “yeh” with a bit of a glide; the g is soft, not a hard “g”.
• meiri – roughly “MAY-ri”.
• reynslu – roughly “RAYNS-lu” (the ey like “ay” in “day”, then nsl cluster, then a short u like in German “Mutter”).

Very loosely stitched together: “meh-th kveh-rri OWS-ko-run SAHP-na yeh MAY-ri RAYNS-lu.”

Is “experience” here understood as countable (like “experiences”) or uncountable (like “experience” in general)?

In this sentence, reynsla is understood as uncountable / mass, like English “experience” in:

• “With every project I gain more experience.”

You are not counting separate “experiences” (events); you are talking about the amount or level of experience you have. That’s why Icelandic uses the mass noun reynsla (here in dative form reynslu) with meiri (“more”).