Svona mistök eru algeng þegar fólk byrjar að læra nýtt tungumál.

Mistakes like this are common when people start to learn a new language.

Breakdown of Svona mistök eru algeng þegar fólk byrjar að læra nýtt tungumál.

• vera: to be
• byrja: to start
• nýr: new
• þegar: when

Questions & Answers about Svona mistök eru algeng þegar fólk byrjar að læra nýtt tungumál.

What does svona mean here?

Here svona means something like such, like this, or of this kind.

So Svona mistök means:

• mistakes like this
• this kind of mistakes
• more naturally in English, such mistakes

A useful thing to know is that svona is very flexible in Icelandic. In other contexts it can also mean like this or this way.

Is mistök plural? Why isn’t there a singular form here?

Yes, mistök is plural here.

In fact, mistök is very often treated as a plural-only noun in Icelandic, meaning mistake/mistakes depending on context. In this sentence, it is clearly plural because:

• the verb is eru = are
• the adjective is algeng = plural agreement here

So the sentence is talking about mistakes in general, not one single mistake.

Why is it eru and not er?

Because the subject, mistök, is plural.

• er = is for singular
• eru = are for plural

So:

• Mistökin eru algeng = The mistakes are common
• Mistakið er algengt = The mistake is common

In your sentence, the subject is plural, so eru is required.