Móttakan er til hægri.

to be

Breakdown of Móttakan er til hægri.

• móttakan: the reception
• til hægri: on the right

Questions & Answers about Móttakan er til hægri.

Why is there no separate word for the in Móttakan?

In Icelandic, the definite article is often attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word.

So:

• móttaka = reception
• móttakan = the reception

That final -n is doing the job that the does in English.

What form is móttakan?

Móttakan is the definite singular nominative form of móttaka.

That matters because it is the subject of the sentence, and subjects are normally in the nominative case.

So grammatically, it is basically:

• móttaka = base noun
• móttakan = the reception, used here as the subject

What does er mean?

Er means is.

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

So:

• ég er = I am
• það er = it is
• móttakan er = the reception is

What does til hægri mean, exactly?

Til hægri is the normal Icelandic expression for to the right or on the right.

It works as a set directional phrase. You will also see:

• til vinstri = to the left
• beint áfram = straight ahead

So in this sentence, til hægri tells you where the reception is located.

Can I say Móttakan er hægri without til?

Normally, no. That would not sound natural in Icelandic.

To express location in this sense, Icelandic usually uses the full phrase til hægri.

So use:

• Móttakan er til hægri. = The reception is on the right.

Not:

• Móttakan er hægri.

Why doesn’t hægri change to match móttakan?

Because hægri here is not an adjective directly describing móttakan.

It is part of the adverbial phrase til hægri, which describes location, not the noun itself.

In other words:

• móttakan = the thing
• er = is
• til hægri = where it is

So hægri is not agreeing with móttakan the way an adjective would.

Is the word order the same as in English?

Yes, in this sentence it is very similar to English:

• Móttakan = subject
• er = verb
• til hægri = location phrase

So the structure is:

Subject + verb + location

That said, Icelandic has a verb-second tendency in main clauses, so in other sentences the word order can shift more than in English.

How do I pronounce Móttakan er til hægri?

A rough English-friendly guide would be:

MOHT-ta-kan er til HIGH-ri

A few helpful notes:

• Stress usually falls on the first syllable of Icelandic words.
• In Móttakan, the tt has a noticeable breathy or clipped sound.
• Hægri is roughly like HIGH-ri, though the real Icelandic sound is a bit different from English.
• The r is usually tapped or lightly rolled.

You do not need perfect pronunciation right away; getting the stress in the right place helps a lot.

Does móttakan mean the receptionist?

Usually no.

Móttakan normally means:

• the reception
• the reception desk
• the reception area

It refers to the place or front desk, not usually the person.

If you mean the person, Icelandic would normally use a different expression.

Can til hægri be used in other sentences too?

Yes, very often. It is a very useful phrase for directions and descriptions of location.

Examples:

• Baðherbergið er til hægri. = The bathroom is on the right.
• Hurðin er til hægri. = The door is on the right.
• Beygðu til hægri. = Turn right.

So til hægri is a phrase worth memorizing as a whole.

Is this sentence only for giving directions inside a building?

No. It is especially common in places like hotels, offices, clinics, and schools, but it can be used anywhere you want to say that something is located on the right.

For example, it could refer to:

• a room
• a desk
• a hallway entrance
• a shop counter

So it is a general location sentence, not one limited to one specific setting.