Log inSign up

Í boðinu stendur að við hittumst klukkan sjö.

Í boðinu stendur að við hittumst klukkan sjö.
The invitation says that we meet at seven o’clock.
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Icelandic grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Icelandic now

Questions & Answers about Í boðinu stendur að við hittumst klukkan sjö.

Why does í take boðinu in that form? What case is it?

Here í means in/inside (a location), so it governs the dative case.

  • boð = an invitation / an offer (neuter noun)
  • boðinu = dative singular definite (the invitation)
    So í boðinu literally means in the invitation.
    (If it were motion into something, í would usually take the accusative.)
What exactly is boðinu built from?

It’s one word made of:

  • stem: boð-
  • the dative singular ending for many neuter nouns: -i
  • the attached definite article in the dative singular neuter: -nu

So: boð + i + nu → boðinu = in the invitation.

Why is the verb standa used in Í boðinu stendur...? Doesn’t it mean to stand?

Yes, standa literally means to stand, but Icelandic often uses it idiomatically the way English uses it says / it states when referring to written text.

  • Í boðinu stendur að... = In the invitation it says/states that...

It’s a very normal, common phrasing for anything written: invitations, letters, notices, instructions, etc.

Where is the subject in Í boðinu stendur að...? What is “standing”?

This kind of sentence is effectively impersonal in Icelandic: you’re not naming a concrete subject like the invitation as the grammatical subject, even though that’s the meaning in English. You can also make the subject explicit with a dummy subject:

  • Það stendur í boðinu að við hittumst klukkan sjö.
    It says in the invitation that we meet at seven.

Both are natural; the version without það is common when you start with the prepositional phrase Í boðinu.

Why is there að before the second clause?

að is the standard conjunction meaning that when a verb introduces reported information:

  • stendur að ... = (it) states that ...

It links the main clause to the content clause, just like English that (and like English, it can often be omitted in speech—but Icelandic normally keeps að in writing).

Why is the word order að við hittumst... and not something with inversion like English sometimes has?

After að, Icelandic uses normal declarative word order in the subordinate clause:

  • að við hittumst ... (subject við before the verb)

You do not do the main-clause “verb-second” style inversion right after að. So að hittumst við... would generally be wrong here.

What does hittumst mean grammatically? Why does it end in -st?

hittumst is 1st person plural, present tense of hittast, which is the -st form of the verb meaning to meet (each other).

  • við hittumst = we meet / we’re meeting (each other)

The -st often marks a middle/reciprocal meaning. Here it’s reciprocal: the meeting involves us with each other.

What’s the difference between við hittum and við hittumst?
  • við hittum (einhvern) comes from hitta and usually means we meet/see someone (with an object).
    Example idea: við hittum hann = we meet him.
  • við hittumst (from hittast) means we meet (each other), typically with no direct object.

In an invitation context, við hittumst is the typical choice because it implies an arranged mutual meeting.

Why is it klukkan sjö and not í sjö or á sjö?

For clock time, Icelandic commonly uses klukkan + time without a preposition:

  • klukkan sjö = at seven o’clock

You’ll also see:

  • kl. 7 in writing (abbreviation)
  • klukkan 19 if using the 24-hour clock style

Using í or á is not the normal way to express a specific clock time in modern standard Icelandic.

What case is klukkan here, and why does it have -n?

klukkan is the accusative singular definite form of klukka (clock), but in time expressions it’s best to learn klukkan as a fixed, conventional way to say at (the time of) X o’clock. So:

  • klukka = a clock
  • klukkan = the clock (accusative/also same form as nominative definite in some uses, but here it functions as the time-expression form)
How would you pronounce the tricky words in this sentence?

A rough guide (approximate):

  • Í: like ee (long i)
  • boðinu: roughly BOH-thih-noo (ð is soft; often like a voiced “th” in this)
  • stendur: roughly sten-dur
  • að: like a short a (the ð is often very light or not strongly pronounced here)
  • hittumst: roughly HIT-tumst (with a clear t)
  • klukkan: roughly KLUHK-kan (double kk is a strong k sound)
  • sjö: roughly shuh (Icelandic sj is like sh)