Questions & Answers about Við tölum um aldurinn hans.
- Við = we
- tölum = (we) talk / are talking – present tense, 1st person plural of tala “to speak, to talk”
- um = about (also “around”, “over”, etc. in other contexts, but here = about)
- aldurinn = the age (from aldur “age” + -inn definite article “the”)
- hans = his (non‑reflexive masculine possessive pronoun)
So the whole sentence is literally: We talk about the age his, which in natural English is: We talk about his age.
Aldurinn has the definite article attached as a suffix:
- aldur = age
- aldurinn = the age
In Icelandic, the definite article is usually added to the end of the noun (and often to an accompanying adjective), not as a separate word like “the” in English. So:
- aldur – age
- aldurinn – the age
In this sentence, aldurinn sounds like you are talking about a specific, known age (his age in this situation), rather than age in general. English translates both as “his age”, but Icelandic shows the specificity with -inn.
Two things are happening:
- Case: The preposition um (about) governs the accusative case. So the noun after um must be in the accusative.
- Definiteness: The noun is also definite (“the age”), so the definite article suffix is added.
For aldur (masculine):
- Nominative singular (subject form): aldur
- Accusative singular: aldur (same stem, but the definite form changes)
Definite forms:
- Nominative definite: aldurinn (the age, as subject)
- Accusative definite: also aldurinn
So after um we need accusative + definite → um aldurinn.
That is why it’s aldurinn, not plain aldur.
Yes, Við tölum um aldur hans is grammatically correct.
Subtle difference in feel:
- um aldurinn hans – “about his (specific) age”; slightly more specific / concrete, often the age that’s already in focus (e.g. the fact that he is 12).
- um aldur hans – “about his age” a bit more neutral or abstract; can feel slightly more like talking about his age as a category, or as one property among others.
In many everyday contexts, both will be understood the same and both translate as “We talk about his age.” Native speakers often prefer the definite form in such a concrete situation, so um aldurinn hans is very natural.
In Icelandic, possessive pronouns normally follow the noun:
- bíllinn hans – his car
- húsið hennar – her house
- börnin okkar – our children
- aldurinn hans – his age
So the regular, neutral order is noun + possessor.
There are possessive adjectives that can go before the noun (minn, þinn, sinn, vor = my, your, his/her own, our), e.g.:
- bíllinn minn – my car
- aldur þinn – your age
But hans, hennar, þeirra, okkar, ykkar come after the noun. Saying hans aldur is possible but sounds marked / poetic / very emphatic, not the normal everyday order.
You cannot say Við tölum um aldurinn sinn here; that is wrong in standard Icelandic.
Difference:
hans = his (non‑reflexive)
- refers to a male person who is not the subject of the clause (or at least not necessarily the subject).
sinn (masculine), sína (fem.), sitt (neut.) = his/her/its own (reflexive)
- refers back to the subject of the sentence.
Examples:
Jón talar um aldur sinn.
“Jón talks about his own age.”
→ sinn refers back to Jón (the subject).Við tölum um aldurinn hans.
“We talk about his age.”
→ The his is not the subject (við “we” is the subject), so you must use hans, not sinn.
If the subject were the same person whose age is being discussed, you’d use sinn:
- Hann talar um aldur sinn. – He talks about his own age.
Tölum is the 1st person plural present of tala “to speak, talk”.
Present tense of tala:
- ég tala – I talk
- þú talar – you (sing.) talk
- hann / hún / það talar – he / she / it talks
- við tölum – we talk
- þið talið – you (pl.) talk
- þeir / þær / þau tala – they talk
Notice the vowel change a → ö in tölum. This is due to u‑umlaut: adding -um in the ending triggers a change in the stem vowel. It’s a regular phonological process in Icelandic, not a random irregularity for this verb alone.
Við tölum can mean both:
- We talk (in general)
- We are talking (right now)
Icelandic normally uses the simple present to cover both the English simple present and the present progressive. Context tells you which is meant.
So Við tölum um aldurinn hans can be:
- “We (usually) talk about his age.”
- “We are talking about his age (right now).”
There is a possible progressive‑like construction (with að vera að + infinitive), but it’s not as broadly or automatically used as English “be + -ing”, and in this sentence the plain present is most natural.
In Icelandic, you usually keep the subject pronoun; it’s not a “pro‑drop” language like Spanish.
- Við tölum um aldurinn hans. – normal statement.
- Tölum um aldurinn hans. – now it sounds like an imperative / suggestion: “Let’s talk about his age.”
So omitting við changes the meaning. For a plain statement, you normally say Við tölum ....
The natural structure is preposition + [noun phrase], and inside the noun phrase, the usual order is:
[noun (+ article)] + [possessive]
So:
- um aldurinn hans – about his age
- um bílinn hans – about his car
- um húsið hennar – about her house
Um hans aldur(inn) is possible but very marked (sounds poetic, archaic, or strongly emphatic). In normal speech and writing, you do not split possession like that; you put hans after the noun (and its article).
Yes, tala um is the standard way to say “talk about”:
- Við tölum um aldurinn hans. – We talk about his age.
- Getum við talað um þetta? – Can we talk about this?
Other related verbs/phrases:
- ræða (eitthvað) – to discuss (something)
- Við ræðum aldurinn hans. – We discuss his age.
- spjalla um – to chat about
- Við spjöllum um hann. – We chat about him.
But tala um is the basic, most common “talk about”.
Approximate pronunciation (IPA‑like, simplified):
- Við – [vɪːð]
- ð = voiced “th” as in “this”
- tölum – [ˈtʰœːlʏm]
- ö ≈ German ö in “schön”; a mid front rounded vowel
- t is strongly aspirated at the start
- um – [ʏm] or [ʏm̥]
- u here is short, a bit like the vowel in French tu but shorter
- aldurinn – [ˈal̥tʏrɪn] (often with a voiceless l and a [t]‑like sound appearing)
- the cluster ldr tends to be pronounced with some simplification/assimilation in fast speech (details vary by speaker)
- hans – [has] or [hans] (the n can be weak or lost in casual speech)
Spoken fluidly, some consonants assimilate, but if you pronounce each word clearly as above, you’ll be understood.