Nafnið hans er stutt en nafnið hennar er langt.

to be

Breakdown of Nafnið hans er stutt en nafnið hennar er langt.

• en: but
• stutt: short
• langt: long
• hennar: her
• hans: his
• nafnið: the name

Questions & Answers about Nafnið hans er stutt en nafnið hennar er langt.

Why is it nafnið and not just nafn at the start?

Nafn means name, while nafnið means the name.

In English, we say his name is short, and that his already makes name definite. In Icelandic, you have two common options for this idea:

• nafn hans – literally name his
• nafnið hans – literally the name his

Both are used in real Icelandic and both usually translate as his name.

Very roughly:

• nafn hans feels a bit more neutral or written.
• nafnið hans is very common in everyday speech and sounds a bit more colloquial.

So nafnið hans er stutt is a perfectly natural way to say his name is short.

Why do hans and hennar come after nafnið, unlike English his name / her name?

Historically, hans and hennar are genitive forms, meaning of him and of her. So nafnið hans is literally the name of him (the name his).

In modern Icelandic, the normal position for third‑person possessives like hans, hennar, þeirra is after the noun:

• nafnið hans – his name
• nafnið hennar – her name
• nafnið þeirra – their name

You can put them before the noun:

• hans nafn, hennar nafn

but that sounds more emphatic or stylistically marked, something like HIS name / HER name in English, or a bit more formal/literary. The default everyday word order is noun + (article) + possessive.

What exactly is the difference between hans and hennar?

They show the gender of the person who owns the thing, not the gender of the thing itself.

• hann = he → hans = his (genitive of hann)
• hún = she → hennar = her (genitive of hún)

So:

• nafnið hans = the name of a man/boy
• nafnið hennar = the name of a woman/girl

The noun nafn / nafnið is neuter, but that does not affect the form of hans or hennar. Those forms care only about the owner, not about the noun they modify.

Why not use sitt here instead of hans / hennar?

Sinn / sín / sitt is the reflexive possessive: it refers back to the subject of the clause.

• Hann elskar nafnið sitt.
  He loves his own name. (subject = he, owner = he → reflexive)

If you used nafnið hans there, it would normally mean someone else’s name:

• Hann elskar nafnið hans.
  He loves his name (another man’s name, not his own).

In your sentence, the subject of the clause is nafnið (the name), not the person:

• Nafnið hans er stutt.
  His name is short. (subject = the name, owner = him)

If you tried Nafnið sitt er stutt, the reflexive sitt would have to refer back to the subject nafnið, so it would mean its own name is short, which doesn’t make sense.

So in this structure, where the name itself is the subject and belongs to some third person, you must use hans / hennar, not sitt.

Why are the adjectives stutt and langt, not stuttur and langur?

In Icelandic, adjectives must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

• The noun here is nafnið (from nafn).
• nafn is neuter, singular, nominative.
• So the adjectives must be neuter singular nominative too.

The base (dictionary) forms are:

• stuttur – short (masculine nominative singular)
• langur – long (masculine nominative singular)

Their neuter forms are:

• stutt – short (neuter)
• langt – long (neuter)

That’s why the sentence has:

• nafnið … er stutt
• nafnið … er langt

not stuttur / langur, which are masculine forms and would not agree with nafn.

What are the main forms of stuttur and langur I should know to understand this?

For the basic nominative singular forms (indefinite):

stuttur (short)

• masculine: stuttur – bíllinn er stuttur (the car is short)
• feminine: stutt – bókin er stutt (the book is short)
• neuter: stutt – nafnið er stutt (the name is short)

langur (long)

• masculine: langur – vegurinn er langur (the road is long)
• feminine: löng – sagan er löng (the story is long)
• neuter: langt – nafnið er langt (the name is long)

So whenever your noun is neuter singular (like nafn / nafnið), the predicate adjective will appear as stutt or langt.

Could I leave out the second nafnið and just say Nafnið hans er stutt en hennar er langt?

Yes. That is both grammatical and natural.

Icelandic often omits repeated words when the meaning is clear. In your example:

• Full form: Nafnið hans er stutt en nafnið hennar er langt.
• Shorter: Nafnið hans er stutt en hennar er langt.

In the shorter version, the second nafnið is simply understood:

• (nafnið) hennar er langt → her (name) is long

You can even omit er in the second clause in spoken/informal language:

• Nafnið hans er stutt en hennar langt.

but including er (as in your sentence) is the safest, clearest form for learners.

What grammatical cases are used in this sentence?

The key cases here are nominative and genitive:

• Nominative (subject and predicate):

  • nafnið (in both clauses) – subject
  • stutt, langt – predicate adjectives, agreeing in nominative neuter singular

• Genitive (showing possession):

  • hans – genitive of hann (he) → his
  • hennar – genitive of hún (she) → her

So structurally each clause is:

• [Nominative subject] + er + [Nominative predicate adjective]
• with a genitive possessor attached to the subject: nafnið hans / nafnið hennar.

Can I say Hans nafn er stutt en hennar nafn er langt instead? Does that sound natural?

Yes, that is grammatically correct and understandable:

• Hans nafn er stutt en hennar nafn er langt.

However, the most neutral everyday order for third‑person possession is still usually:

• nafnið hans / nafnið hennar

Putting the possessive before the noun:

• hans nafn, hennar nafn

tends to:

• sound more formal or written, or
• give extra emphasis to the possessor, like HIS name / HER name.

So your original sentence with nafnið hans … nafnið hennar is exactly the kind of structure you should learn as your default.

Why is the conjunction en used here and not og?

• og means and (just adding information).
• en means but (introducing contrast or opposition).

Your sentence contrasts the two names:

• one is short
• the other is long

So Icelandic uses en to show this contrast:

• Nafnið hans er stutt en nafnið hennar er langt.
  His name is short but her name is long.

If both names were short, you would use og:

• Nafnið hans er stutt og nafnið hennar er líka stutt.
  His name is short and her name is also short.

How do you pronounce Nafnið hans er stutt en nafnið hennar er langt?

A rough IPA transcription:

• [ˈnapnɪð hans ɛr stʏht ɛn ˈnapnɪð ˈhɛnar ɛr laukt]

Very approximate “English‑style” guide (caps = stressed syllable):

• Nafnið ≈ NAHP-nith (the final ð is like th in this/thing, often quite soft)
• hans ≈ hans (short a, like u in luck, but a bit more open)
• er ≈ ehr (like air without the diphthong)
• stutt ≈ stut (short u as in put, then a hard t)
• en ≈ en (like end without the d)
• hennar ≈ HEN-ar (both vowels short)
• langt ≈ lahngt (a bit like English longt, with an audible ng and final t)

Exact pronunciation varies slightly by speaker, but this is close enough to be understood.

Is the word order fixed, or could I move hans and hennar somewhere else?

The normal and safest word order is:

• Nafnið hans er stutt en nafnið hennar er langt.

Variants:

1. Nafn hans er stutt… (no article) – also fine; a bit more neutral/formal.
2. Hans nafn er stutt… – possible, but more emphatic or stylistic.
3. Nafnið hans er stutt en hennar er langt. – omitting the second nafnið is fine.

Things that generally sound wrong or very marked:

• Splitting the verb and adjective oddly, e.g. Nafnið hans stutt er.
• Moving hans or hennar far away from nafnið, e.g. Hans er nafnið stutt.

So, for everyday Icelandic, keep:

• [Noun (+ article)] + [Possessive] + er + [Adjective]

How would I say My name is short but his name is long using this same pattern?

You can keep exactly the same structure and just change the possessive:

• Nafnið mitt er stutt en nafnið hans er langt.
  My name is short but his name is long.

Key possessive forms for this pattern:

• mitt – my (neuter, agreeing with nafn) → nafnið mitt
• þitt – your (singular) → nafnið þitt
• hans – his → nafnið hans
• hennar – her → nafnið hennar

All of them fit into:

• Nafnið X er stutt / langt.
  (X = mitt, þitt, hans, hennar, etc.)