Log inSign up

Fresturinn er stuttur, svo við flýtum okkur.

Fresturinn er stuttur, svo við flýtum okkur.
The deadline is short, so we hurry.

Breakdown of Fresturinn er stuttur, svo við flýtum okkur.

vera
to be
við
we
svo
so
stuttur
short
flýta sér
to hurry
fresturinn
the deadline
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Icelandic grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Icelandic now

Questions & Answers about Fresturinn er stuttur, svo við flýtum okkur.

What does fresturinn mean grammatically, and why does it end in -urinn?

Frestur is a masculine noun meaning deadline / time limit.
Fresturinn = frestur + -inn (the definite article “the”). The form -urinn is what you often get when -inn attaches to a masculine noun ending in -ur:

  • frestur = a deadline
  • fresturinn = the deadline (a specific one)
Why is it Fresturinn (nominative) and not some other case?

It’s the subject of the clause, and Icelandic subjects are typically in the nominative. In Fresturinn er stuttur, the structure is:

  • Subject (Nom.): Fresturinn
  • Verb: er
  • Predicate adjective: stuttur
Why is the adjective stuttur and not stutt or stuttan?

Predicate adjectives agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.
Fresturinn is masculine singular nominative, so stuttur is the matching form:

  • masc. sg. nom.: stuttur
  • neut. sg. nom.: stutt
  • fem. sg. nom.: stutt

stuttan would be masculine singular accusative, which isn’t used here because the noun is nominative.

What role does er play here?

er is the present tense (3rd person singular) of að vera (to be). It links the subject to the description:

  • Fresturinn er stuttur = The deadline is short.
Is svo the same as English so? Does it change the word order?

Here svo works like so / therefore connecting two main clauses. In this use, it usually does not force inversion; the second clause can keep normal subject–verb order:

  • ..., svo við flýtum okkur. (subject við before verb)

If you start a sentence with Svo as an adverbial (“then/so”), you often get V2 inversion:

  • Svo flýtum við okkur. (verb before subject)
Why is there a comma before svo?

Because you have two independent clauses: 1) Fresturinn er stuttur
2) við flýtum okkur

A comma is commonly used to separate main clauses when they’re linked by a connector like svo.

What does flýtum tell me about the subject?

flýtum is the present tense, 1st person plural form of að flýta. The ending -um signals we:

  • ég flýti
  • þú flýtir
  • hann/hún/það flýtir
  • við flýtum
  • þið flýtið
  • þeir/þær/þau flýta

So við flýtum = we hurry / we speed up (depending on construction).

Why does it say flýtum okkur? What is okkur doing there?

að flýta sér means to hurry (oneself), and Icelandic expresses that with a reflexive pronoun. For við (we), the reflexive form is okkur:

  • ég flýti mér
  • þú flýtir þér
  • hann flýtir sér
  • við flýtum okkur

So við flýtum okkur literally is like we hurry ourselves, i.e. we hurry.

Is að flýta ever non-reflexive (without okkur/sér)?

Yes. Without the reflexive pronoun, að flýta is typically transitive and means to speed something up / expedite something:

  • Við flýtum verkinu. = We speed up the work.

With the reflexive:

  • Við flýtum okkur. = We hurry.
Could I drop við and just say flýtum okkur?

Yes, often. Icelandic can omit the subject pronoun when it’s clear from the verb ending:

  • Flýtum okkur. = Let’s hurry / We should hurry.

Including við can sound a bit more explicit or contrastive, depending on context.

Is the tense here present, or is it more like English we’re going to hurry?

It’s grammatically present tense, but like English present, it can describe what you do now / immediately in response to the situation:

  • ...svo við flýtum okkur. = ...so we hurry (now).

If you want have to hurry, Icelandic often uses:

  • ...svo við verðum að flýta okkur.
How do I pronounce tricky parts like Fresturinn, stuttur, and flýtum okkur?

A few reliable tips:

  • Stress is almost always on the first syllable: FRESturinn, STUttur, FLÝtum.
  • ý is a front rounded vowel (similar to German ü): flýtum.
  • tt in stuttur is a strong t sound (often with preaspiration in careful speech).
  • svo has a clear s and a long-ish o: svo.