Húsið okkar er hlýtt.

to be

Breakdown of Húsið okkar er hlýtt.

• húsið: the house
• hlýr: warm
• okkar: us

Questions & Answers about Húsið okkar er hlýtt.

Why is húsið one word instead of two words for the house?

Because Icelandic usually puts the definite article on the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like English the.

• hús = house
• húsið = the house

Here, -ið is the definite ending for this form of the noun.

Why does okkar come after the noun?

That is a very common Icelandic pattern with possessives. Icelandic often says the house our where English says our house.

So:

• húsið okkar = our house

This is the most natural everyday pattern for beginners to learn.

What exactly is okkar?

okkar means our. More specifically, it is the genitive plural form related to við = we, and Icelandic uses that form to express possession.

So the idea is basically of us → our.

Does okkar change to match the noun?

Usually, no. okkar stays okkar regardless of whether the noun is masculine, feminine, neuter, singular, or plural.

For example:

• bíllinn okkar = our car
• bókin okkar = our book
• húsið okkar = our house
• börnin okkar = our children

That makes okkar easier than possessives like minn, þinn, and sinn, which do change.

What does er mean here?

er means is. It is the present tense singular form of the verb vera, which means to be.

So:

• er = is
• eru = are

Because húsið is singular, the sentence uses er.

Why is the adjective hlýtt and not hlýr?

Because Icelandic adjectives agree with the noun they describe. hús is a neuter singular noun, so the adjective must also be in the neuter singular form.

The adjective hlýr has these basic singular forms:

• masculine: hlýr
• feminine: hlý
• neuter: hlýtt

So húsið okkar er hlýtt uses the correct neuter form.

Why does hlýtt end in -tt?

That is just how this adjective forms its neuter singular. Not all Icelandic adjectives form the neuter in exactly the same way, so it is best to learn this one as a set:

• hlýr
• hlý
• hlýtt

So instead of trying to build it mechanically at first, it is often easiest to memorize the pattern.

Can I also say okkar hús er hlýtt?

Yes, that is possible, but húsið okkar is the more neutral and common everyday way to say our house.

okkar hús can sound more contrastive or stylistically different, something like our house as opposed to someone else’s. For a learner, húsið okkar is the safest and most natural pattern to use first.

Is the word order basically the same as in English?

In this sentence, yes. It follows the same basic order:

• subject: Húsið okkar
• verb: er
• adjective/complement: hlýtt

So it works much like Our house is warm.

However, Icelandic is a verb-second language, so if something else comes first, the verb still usually stays in second position. For example:

• Í dag er húsið okkar hlýtt = Today our house is warm

How do you pronounce Húsið okkar er hlýtt?

A rough beginner-friendly pronunciation guide is:

• Húsið ≈ HOO-sith
• okkar ≈ OHK-kar
• er ≈ eh(r)
• hlýtt ≈ lheet with a breathy start and a sharp final t

A few helpful points:

• ú sounds like oo in food
• ý sounds like ee in see
• ð is like th in this, though often softer in real speech
• hl is not quite like normal English hl; learners often approximate it with a breathy l
• double consonants in Icelandic often sound different from English ones

What are the dictionary forms of the words in this sentence?

The dictionary forms are:

• hús = house
• okkar = our
• vera = to be
• hlýr = warm

This is useful because the words in real sentences are often inflected, so the form you see is not always the form you would look up in a dictionary.

How would the sentence change in the plural?

It would be:

Húsin okkar eru hlý.

That means Our houses are warm.

Notice what changes:

• húsið → húsin = the house → the houses
• er → eru = is → are
• hlýtt → hlý = neuter singular → neuter plural adjective form

This is a good example of how Icelandic changes several parts of the sentence to match number.