Hann laug um peningana.

Laug is the past tense of að ljúga. This is a strong verb, so it changes its vowel instead of forming the past tense in a more regular way.

Some useful forms are:

• að ljúga = to lie
• ég lýg = I lie
• hann lýgur = he lies
• hann laug = he lied

So laug may look quite different from ljúga, but it is the normal past-tense form.

Here um means about or concerning.

So laug um peningana means that the lie was about the money. In other words, the money is the topic of the lie.

This is a normal use of um in Icelandic. The preposition um can have other meanings in other contexts, such as around, but in this sentence it clearly means about.

Because um takes the accusative case in Icelandic.

The noun peningar changes form depending on its grammatical role. After um, you need the accusative, so you get:

• nominative plural: peningar
• accusative plural: peninga
• accusative plural definite: peningana

So um peningana is the correct form because um requires the accusative.

That is a very common question. Icelandic often uses peningar, which is grammatically plural, where English uses singular money.

So:

• peningar = money
• peningana = the money

Literally, it may feel more like the monies, but in normal English translation you usually just say the money.

There is also another Icelandic word, fé, which can also mean money or wealth, but peningar is very common in everyday language.

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

So peningana includes both:

• peninga = money / money in the accusative plural
• -na = the definite ending here

That means peningana = the money.

This is one of the big differences from English: Icelandic usually says the-money as one word rather than using a separate word like the.

Yes. This is the neutral, standard word order for a main clause:

• Hann = subject
• laug = verb
• um peningana = prepositional phrase

So it follows the basic pattern subject + verb + rest.

However, Icelandic also allows other word orders for emphasis. For example:

• Um peningana laug hann.

That would put extra focus on the money, but the neutral version is Hann laug um peningana.

No, not normally.

Um peningana means about the money, not for the money.

So this sentence is about the topic of the lie, not the reason for it.

If you wanted to express something like for the money, Icelandic would normally use a different structure and probably a different preposition.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

• laug ≈ lœyg or something a bit like loyg

The au sound in Icelandic is not exactly the same as English, but it is somewhat similar to the vowel sound in boy for many learners.

A rough guide for the whole sentence is:

• Hann ≈ han
• laug ≈ loyg
• um ≈ um
• peningana ≈ PEH-ning-ana

The stress in Icelandic normally falls on the first syllable of each word, so PEH in peningana is stressed.

The basic dictionary form is peningur, but in everyday use the plural peningar is very common when talking about money.

So the chain is roughly:

• peningur = a coin / a unit of money
• peningar = money
• peninga = money in the accusative plural
• peningana = the money in the accusative plural

That is why the form in this sentence may look longer than an English learner expects: it contains plural marking, case marking, and definiteness all in one word.