Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Sumar minningar sem við tölum oft um gefa okkur bæði gleði og sorg. - Some memories that we often talk about give us both joy and sorrow.

sumar (neuter noun) = summer
- e.g. sumar er skemmtilegt – summer is fun
sumar (indefinite pronoun/adjective) = some, certain
- that is what you have in Sumar minningar

In the sentence, sumar is an indefinite pronoun that means some or certain. It:

agrees with minningar in:
- gender: feminine
- number: plural
- case: nominative
is part of the subject phrase Sumar minningar = Some memories

So grammatically, sumar is like English some or certain modifying memories, not the noun summer.

Why is minningar in that form, and what case is it in?

The base word is minning (feminine) = memory.

Its main forms are roughly:

singular:
- nominative: minning
- accusative: minningu
plural:
- nominative: minningar
- accusative: minningar

In the sentence, Sumar minningar … gefa …, the whole phrase Sumar minningar sem við tölum oft um is the subject of gefa, so minningar is in nominative plural.

Because minningar is plural nominative, the pronoun sumar also takes plural nominative feminine, giving Sumar minningar = Some memories as the subject.

What is the function of sem in sem við tölum oft um, and can it be left out like that in English?

sem is a relative word here, very close to English that or which.

It introduces a relative clause: sem við tölum oft um
That clause describes minningar
So: Sumar minningar sem við tölum oft um = Some memories that we often talk about

Important difference from English:

You cannot leave out sem in Icelandic the way you can drop that in English.

English: the memories (that) we often talk about
Icelandic: minningarnar sem við tölum oft um
- *minningarnar við tölum oft um (without sem) is ungrammatical.

So sem is obligatory here; it ties minningar to the clause við tölum oft um.

Why is the preposition um at the end of við tölum oft um? Could it go before sem?

In Icelandic, when you use sem to introduce a relative clause, it is very normal to strand the preposition at the end of the clause, just like in English.

við tölum oft um [þessar minningar]
When you make that into a relative clause:
- [þessar minningar] sem við tölum oft um

You do not say:

*Sumar minningar um sem við tölum oft (putting um before sem) – this is wrong.

So the pattern is:

preposition with a full noun phrase: tala um minningar
preposition stranded in a relative clause: minningar sem við tölum um

This is very similar to English:

the memories we often talk about (preposition at the end)
and you also can’t say: the memories about that we often talk

What does tölum mean, and how does it relate to tala?

The verb is tala = to speak, to talk.

Present tense (indicative) of tala:

ég tala – I talk
þú talar – you talk (singular)
hann / hún / það talar – he / she / it talks
við tölum – we talk
þið talið – you talk (plural)
þeir / þær / þau tala – they talk

So:

tala is the infinitive (to talk), and also 1st and 3rd person plural in some tenses
tölum is 1st person plural present: we talk

In the sentence:

við tölum oft um = we often talk about

Why is the second verb gefa and not something like gef or gefað? Is gefa infinitive or present tense here?

Here gefa is present tense, not an infinitive.

The verb gefa = to give. Present tense (indicative):

ég gef
þú gefur
hann / hún / það gefur
við gefum
þið gefið
þeir / þær / þau gefa

Notice that the 3rd person plural present form is also gefa, identical to the infinitive.

In the sentence:

Subject: Sumar minningar … – Some memories (3rd person plural)
Therefore we use the 3rd person plural form:
- Sumar minningar … gefa okkur bæði gleði og sorg.

So gefa here is “they give”, agreeing with sumar minningar.

Why do we say gefa okkur and not gefa við? What is okkur exactly?

okkur is a case form of the pronoun “we”.

The full set for we is:

við – nominative (subject form) = we
okkur – accusative = us
okkur – dative = to us / for us
okkar – genitive = of us / our

The verb gefa uses this pattern:

someone (in dative) + something (in accusative)
→ give someone something

In gefa okkur bæði gleði og sorg:

okkur is the indirect object, in dative → to us
gleði og sorg are the direct objects → joy and sorrow

So:

gefa okkur = give us / give to us
Using við here (*gefa við) would be wrong, because við is nominative and is used only as a subject form.

What does bæði … og … do in gefa okkur bæði gleði og sorg, and where does bæði go?

bæði … og … is a correlative pair meaning “both … and …”.

In the sentence:

bæði gleði og sorg = both joy and sorrow

Structure:

bæði comes before the first of the two items
og connects the first and second item

So the pattern is:

bæði X og Y
- bæði before X
- og before Y

You generally do not move bæði far away, e.g.:

*gefa okkur gleði bæði og sorg – sounds wrong
Correct: gefa okkur bæði gleði og sorg

You can use bæði … og … with different kinds of words:

with nouns: bæði kaffi og te – both coffee and tea
with adjectives: hún er bæði klár og dugleg – she is both clever and hard‑working
with verbs (usually with an auxiliary): hann vill bæði læra og vinna – he wants both to study and to work

What case are gleði and sorg in, and how can I tell they are objects?

gleði (joy) and sorg (sorrow) are the things being given, so they are direct objects of gefa.

The verb gefa takes:

dative for the receiver: okkur
accusative for what is given: gleði and sorg

So gleði and sorg are in the accusative singular.

However, in these particular nouns, nominative and accusative look the same:

gleði – nom/acc singular are both gleði
sorg – nom/acc singular are both sorg

So you know they are objects not from their shape, but from:

The verb’s argument pattern (gefa = give someone (dat) something (acc))
The sentence structure: subject first, then verb, then indirect object, then direct objects:
- Sumar minningar … – subject
- gefa – verb
- okkur – indirect object (dative)
- bæði gleði og sorg – direct objects (accusative)

Could the word order be Sumar minningar sem við oft tölum um gefa okkur bæði gleði og sorg, and if not, where can I put oft?

The most natural word order is:

sem við tölum oft um

Putting oft between við and tölum is not idiomatic in this sentence:

*sem við oft tölum um – sounds wrong or at least very marked.

In ordinary speech and writing, you would use:

sem við tölum oft um

Other possible (but less common / more marked) options:

sem við tölum um oft – possible, but usually felt less natural
In main clauses, you have more flexibility, e.g.:
- Við tölum oft um þessar minningar.
- Oft tölum við um þessar minningar.

In this particular relative clause, you should learn “við tölum oft um” as the standard, natural order.

How is the whole sentence pronounced, especially við and tölum?

Very roughly, in an English‑based description:

Sumar – first syllable like a short su- with rounded lips (not like English soo), stress on Su‑
minningar – min like min in mint, then -ning‑ar*; the nn is clearly pronounced
sem – like sehm, with a clear m at the end
við – vith, with a soft th like in English this (voiced), not like thing
tölum:
- ö: similar to French eu in bleu or German ö in schön
- u: short, like the vowel in German müssen
  → something like TUH-lum but with front, rounded vowels
oft – like English oft (British spelling of often), with clear f and t
um – short um, lips rounded, the vowel is short and central
gefa – g is palatal before e, somewhere between g and ky; e as in get but often a bit tenser; stress on ge‑
okkur – roughly OCK-ur, with a short u at the end
bæði – æ is like English eye, so BYE-thi with soft th
gleði – gl like English gl in glad, e often like long eh; ð = soft th again; so approximately GLAY-thi or GLEH-thi
sorg – like sorg, final g is pronounced like k here: sork

You do not need perfect Icelandic phonetics to be understood, but paying special attention to:

ð in við, bæði, gleði (voiced th)
ö in tölum
and to always stress the first syllable of each word

will already make your pronunciation much clearer and more natural.