Vináttan okkar gefur mér gleði.

Our friendship gives me joy.

Breakdown of Vináttan okkar gefur mér gleði.

• mér: me
• okkar: our
• gefa: to give
• vináttan: the friendship
• gleðin: the joy

Questions & Answers about Vináttan okkar gefur mér gleði.

What does each word in Vináttan okkar gefur mér gleði correspond to in English?

Word-by-word:

• vináttan – the friendship

  • vinátta = friendship
  • -n = the (definite article attached to the noun)

• okkar – our / of us

  • genitive plural of við (we)

• gefur – gives

  • 3rd person singular present of gefa (to give)

• mér – to me

  • dative of ég (I)

• gleði – joy

So the literal structure is: “The friendship our gives to‑me joy.”
Natural English: “Our friendship gives me joy.”

Why is it vináttan and not just vinátta?

Vináttan has the definite article -n attached, so it means the friendship rather than just friendship.

• vinátta = friendship (indefinite)
• vináttan = the friendship (definite)

In this sentence, vináttan okkar is talking about a specific, known friendship (ours), so Icelandic normally uses the definite form.

Compare:

• Vinátta er mikilvæg. – Friendship is important. (general idea)
• Vináttan okkar er mikilvæg. – Our friendship is important. (specific friendship)

In English, our already makes the noun specific. In Icelandic, when the possessive comes after the noun (like vináttan okkar), the noun is usually also made definite with -inn / -an / -ið etc.

Why does the possessive okkar come after the noun, instead of before it like in English our friendship?

Icelandic allows possessive pronouns both before and after the noun, but the meaning and form change slightly.

• vináttan okkar – our friendship

  • noun with attached definite article
  • possessive after the noun
  • very common, neutral, and often feels a bit more intimate or natural

• okkar vinátta – our friendship

  • noun without definite article
  • possessive before the noun
  • a bit more contrastive or emphatic: our (as opposed to someone else’s)

So:

• Vináttan okkar gefur mér gleði.
  – perfectly normal, neutral, and idiomatic.

• Okkar vinátta gefur mér gleði.
  – grammatically correct, but can sound more like “Our friendship (in particular) gives me joy” with some emphasis on our.

For a basic learner, noun + article + okkar (like vináttan okkar) is the safest default.

What grammatical case is mér, and why is it used instead of mig?

Mér is dative singular of ég (I).

Forms of ég:

• Nominative: ég (I – subject)
• Accusative: mig (me – direct object)
• Dative: mér (to/for me – indirect object)
• Genitive: mín (of me / my – rare in modern speech)

The verb gefa (to give) usually takes:

• dative for the recipient (the person you give to)
• accusative for the thing being given

So in patterns:

• gefa e-m e-ð = to give someone something
  
  • e-m = einhverjum (someone) in dative
  • e-ð = eitthvað (something) in accusative

In our sentence:

• mér (to me) = recipient → dative
• gleði (joy) = thing being given → accusative

That is why it must be gefur mér gleði, not gefur mig gleði.

What case is gleði, and why doesn’t its form change here?

Grammatically, gleði is the direct object of gefur, so it is in the accusative case.

However, the noun gleði is one of those Icelandic nouns whose singular forms are all identical:

• Nominative: gleði
• Accusative: gleði
• Dative: gleði
• Genitive: gleði

So even though its function here is accusative, the form stays gleði. You see the case from the verb pattern (gefa e-m e-ð) rather than from a visible ending.

How is gefur formed, and what tense/person is it?

Gefa is the infinitive “to give”. Gefur is:

• present tense
• 3rd person singular (he/she/it gives)

Basic present forms of gefa:

• ég gefi – I give
• þú gefur – you (sg.) give
• hann / hún / það gefur – he / she / it gives
• við gefum – we give
• þið gefið – you (pl.) give
• þeir / þær / þau gefa – they give

In Vináttan okkar gefur mér gleði, the subject vináttan okkar is 3rd person singular, so the verb must be gefur.

Could I say Vinátta okkar gefur mér gleði instead of Vináttan okkar gefur mér gleði?

Yes, that is grammatically correct, but there is a small difference in feel.

• Vináttan okkar gefur mér gleði.

  • definite noun (vináttan) + postposed okkar
  • sounds very natural and is probably the most typical way to say it.

• Vinátta okkar gefur mér gleði.

  • indefinite-looking noun (vinátta) + postposed okkar
  • also understandable and heard, but many speakers will prefer the definite vináttan okkar here.

In practice, if you want to sound idiomatic, go with vináttan okkar in this kind of sentence. Using the article aligns with the idea that we are talking about our specific friendship.

Could I instead say Vináttan okkar gleður mig? Does that mean the same thing?

Yes, that is a very natural alternative, and it is close in meaning.

• gefa e-m gleði – to give someone joy
• gleðja e-n / gleðja mig – to make someone happy / to delight someone

Vináttan okkar gleður mig. literally: Our friendship delights me / makes me happy.

Subtle differences:

• gefur mér gleði sounds slightly more noun-y / abstract: it gives me joy (as a thing).
• gleður mig is more directly emotional: it makes me happy.

Both are good, idiomatic Icelandic.

How flexible is the word order in this sentence? Could I start with mér?

Icelandic word order is relatively flexible, but there are preferred patterns.

Neutral order here is:

• Vináttan okkar gefur mér gleði.
  Subject – Verb – indirect object – direct object.

You can move elements for emphasis or style, but you must keep the verb in second position in a main clause (the V2 rule):

• Mér gefur vináttan okkar gleði.
  – “To me gives our friendship joy.” (emphasis on mér)

• Gleði gefur vináttan okkar mér.
  – Possible, but quite unusual and poetic/literary.

For everyday speech and writing, stick with:

• Vináttan okkar gefur mér gleði.

Starting with Mér is grammatically correct, but feels more marked / emphasised: “It is to me that our friendship gives joy.”

What are the genders of vinátta and gleði, and do they behave like regular nouns?

Both vinátta and gleði are feminine nouns.

• vinátta – friendship

  • feminine, regular-ish -a ending
  • singular (without article):
    
    • nom: vinátta
    • acc: vináttu
    • dat: vináttu
    • gen: vináttu
  • with article:
    
    • nom: vináttan
    • acc: vináttuna
    • dat: vináttunni
    • gen: vináttunnar

• gleði – joy

  • feminine, but all singular cases are the same: gleði
  • it declines only clearly in the plural, which you rarely need for this word.

So vinátta behaves like a fairly typical feminine -a noun; gleði is more irregular in that its singular form doesn’t change with case.

How do you pronounce Vináttan okkar gefur mér gleði?

A simple, learner-friendly approximation (stressed syllables in capitals):

• VIN‑auht‑tan OKK‑ar GYEH‑vur MYER GLEH‑thi

More detail:

• Vináttan – stress on Vi‑; á is like ow in English now; tt is pronounced with a little h-like puff (-auht-)
• okkar – kk is pronounced almost like hk: OKK‑ar (roughly “OCK-ar”)
• gefur – g before e is palatal, a bit like gy in “give + y” → GYEH-vur
• mér – roughly “myair” but shorter: MYER
• gleði – gl as in “glad”, e like “bed”, ð like the th in “this”, and i like “bit” → GLEH‑thi

A rough IPA transcription (one possible version) is:

• [ˈvɪːnauhtan ˈɔhkar ˈcɛːvʏr mjer ˈklɛːðɪ]

You don’t need to hit this perfectly; aiming for the syllable shapes and stress (always on the first syllable of a word) will already make you sound much clearer.

Why is there no separate word for the before vinátta?

Icelandic usually doesn’t use a separate word for the in front of nouns. Instead, it attaches the definite article to the end of the noun:

• vinátta – friendship
• vináttan – the friendship
• bók – book
• bókin – the book
• vinur – friend
• vinurinn – the friend

So in Vináttan okkar gefur mér gleði, the -n on vináttan is doing the job that the would do in English. The possessive okkar then follows that definite noun.