Hópurinn fer í skóginn á mánudögum.

The group goes into the forest on Mondays.

Breakdown of Hópurinn fer í skóginn á mánudögum.

• fara: to go
• á: on
• í: into
• skógurinn: the forest
• hópurinn: the group
• mánudagurinn: the Monday

Questions & Answers about Hópurinn fer í skóginn á mánudögum.

What is the difference between hópur and hópurinn?

Hópur means a group (indefinite: any group).

Hópurinn means the group (definite: a specific group already known from context).

In Icelandic, the definite article (the) is usually attached to the end of the noun as a suffix instead of being a separate word.

• hópur = group
• hópurinn = the group

So in this sentence, hópurinn is talking about a particular group that both speaker and listener know about.

What role does hópurinn play in the sentence grammatically?

Hópurinn is:

• nominative case (the “subject” case),
• singular,
• masculine,
• and it is the subject of the verb fer.

So it literally means the group as the doer of the action goes.

Why is the verb fer and not something like fara or ferð?

The infinitive form is fara (to go). In the present tense:

• ég fer – I go
• þú ferð – you (singular) go
• hann / hún / það fer – he / she / it goes
• við förum – we go
• þið farið – you (plural) go
• þeir / þær / þau fara – they go

Hópurinn is treated as third person singular (like hann / he), so it takes the form fer:

• Hópurinn fer = The group goes.

Using Hópurinn fara would be ungrammatical, because fara is for third person plural (they), not singular.

Why is it í skóginn and not í skógur or í skógi?

The preposition í (in / into) can take:

• accusative when there is motion into something (direction),
• dative when it means being inside something (location).

Here, the group goes into the forest, so it is motion into → accusative case:

• skógur (nominative) – a forest
• í skóginn (accusative, definite) – into the forest

If you were talking about just being inside the forest, you would use dative:

• Hópurinn er í skóginum. – The group is in the forest.

So:

• fer í skóginn = goes into the forest (accusative)
• er í skóginum = is in the forest (dative)

Why is it skóginn and not just skóg? Why the definite form?

Skógur = a forest (indefinite)
skóginn = the forest (accusative singular definite)

Icelandic tends to use the definite form in many situations where English might say either:

• the forest, or
• the woods / the forest in general.

In this sentence í skóginn suggests a specific forest that is understood from context, or the usual forest they go to. English would naturally say to the forest or to the woods.

So skóginn is definite because we are talking about a particular, known place, not just any forest.

What does á mánudögum literally mean, and why is it plural?

Á mánudögum literally means on Mondays.

Breakdown:

• mánudagur = Monday (nominative singular)
• mánudögum = Mondays (dative plural)
• á
  • dative plural of a day of the week is the usual way to say on X-days (regularly).

Icelandic often uses dative plural for habitual time expressions:

• á mánudögum – on Mondays (every Monday / regularly)
• á fimmtudögum – on Thursdays
• á kvöldin – in the evenings (regularly)

So á mánudögum signals a repeated, habitual action: the group regularly goes on Mondays.

When would you use á mánudag instead of á mánudögum?

Use:

• á mánudag (singular, often accusative) for one specific Monday:

  • Við förum í skóginn á mánudag. – We will go to the forest on Monday (this coming Monday).

• á mánudögum (dative plural) for every Monday / on Mondays in general:

  • Við förum í skóginn á mánudögum. – We go to the forest on Mondays (habitually).

So:

• á mánudag = on Monday (one particular day)
• á mánudögum = on Mondays (repeatedly)

Why is there no word for the before mánudögum?

Weekdays in Icelandic normally do not take the definite article in this kind of time expression.

So you say:

• á mánudögum – on Mondays (not á mánudögunum in ordinary usage for this meaning)
• á föstudögum – on Fridays

This is similar to English on Mondays: there is no article there either. The preposition á plus the bare weekday in the appropriate case is enough.

Can the word order change, for example: Á mánudögum fer hópurinn í skóginn?

Yes, Icelandic word order is fairly flexible, especially with time and place expressions.

Both of these are correct and natural:

• Hópurinn fer í skóginn á mánudögum.
• Á mánudögum fer hópurinn í skóginn.

The second version puts extra emphasis on Á mánudögum (on Mondays), highlighting the time. The important structural rule is that the finite verb (fer) stays in second position in main clauses (the so‑called V2 rule), but “position 1” can be occupied by something other than the subject, such as a time expression.

How do you pronounce Hópurinn fer í skóginn á mánudögum roughly?

Very roughly, in a way an English speaker can imitate:

• Hópurinn ≈ HOH-pu-rin
• fer ≈ fer (like English fair but shorter)
• í ≈ ee (long ee)
• skóginn ≈ SKOH-gyin (the g is soft, almost like the y in yes blended with g)
• á ≈ ow (like in cow, but shorter and clearer)
• mánudögum ≈ MAU-nu-thøy-gum
  
  • má ≈ MAU (like mow in mower, but a bit rounder)
  • nu ≈ nu
  • dö ≈ thø (like thuh with a rounded vowel; Icelandic ð is a soft th as in this)
  • gum ≈ gum

Main stress is always on the first syllable of each word: HÓ‑purinn FER í SKÓ‑ginn á MÁ‑nu‑dö‑gum.