Mission—Team—FAQ—Privacy—Terms—Sponsors—Grammar—Typing Course—Donate

© 2026 Elon Automation B.V.

Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Bókasafnskortið er hér. - The library card is here.

Hardcore Icelandic
/Using the public library
/Bókasafnskortið er hér.

Bókasafnskortið er hér.

Word

Bókasafnskortið er hér.

Meaning

The library card is here.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Icelandic

Lesson

Using the public library

Breakdown of Bókasafnskortið er hér.

bókasafnskortið

the library card

Elon.io is an online learning platform

We have an entire course teaching Icelandic grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Icelandic now

Questions & Answers about Bókasafnskortið er hér.

Why is bókasafnskortið one long word?

Icelandic makes very heavy use of compound nouns, much more than English often does.

Bókasafnskortið can be broken down like this:

bókasafn = library
kort = card
-ið = the (for a neuter noun)

So:

bókasafnskort = library card
bókasafnskortið = the library card

This kind of long noun is completely normal in Icelandic.

What does the ending -ið mean?

The ending -ið is the definite article, meaning the.

Unlike English, Icelandic usually does not use a separate word like the before the noun. Instead, it attaches the article to the end of the noun.

So:

bókasafnskort = a library card / library card
bókasafnskortið = the library card

In this sentence, -ið tells you that we are talking about a specific card.

Why isn’t there a separate word for the?

Because Icelandic normally expresses the as a suffix attached to the noun.

Compare:

English: the library card
Icelandic: bókasafnskortið

This is one of the first big differences English speakers notice in Icelandic. There is a separate demonstrative word that can sometimes feel similar to that/the, but in ordinary definite noun phrases, the article is usually attached to the noun itself.

What part of speech is er?

Er is the present tense of the verb að vera, meaning to be.

So:

ég er = I am
þú ert = you are
hann/hún/það er = he/she/it is

In this sentence, bókasafnskortið er hér, er means is.

Why is the word order Bókasafnskortið er hér?

This is the normal, straightforward Icelandic word order for a simple statement:

subject
- verb
  - location/adverb

So here:

Bókasafnskortið = subject
er = verb
hér = adverb of place

That gives:

The library card
- is
  - here

This is very similar to English word order in this kind of sentence.

What does hér mean exactly, and how is it different from other words for place?

Hér means here.

It refers to location, not motion. So it answers the question where?

hér = here
þar = there

A useful contrast is with words that express movement:

hingað = to here / hither
þangað = to there

So:

Bókasafnskortið er hér. = The library card is here.
If you were talking about movement toward this place, you would not use hér.

What gender is bókasafnskortið, and does that matter?

It is neuter.

The base noun is kort, which is a neuter noun, and the whole compound follows that gender. That matters because gender affects:

the form of the definite article
adjective endings
pronouns referring to the noun
some case endings

Here, the neuter definite form is -ið, which is why you get bókasafnskortið.

What case is bókasafnskortið in here?

It is in the nominative case, because it is the subject of the sentence.

In a basic sentence like this, the thing that is somewhere usually appears in the nominative:

Bókasafnskortið = nominative subject
er = is
hér = here

For learners, the important point is that dictionary forms are usually given in the nominative singular, and this sentence uses that basic subject form.

How do you pronounce bókasafnskortið er hér?

A rough guide for English speakers:

bóka ≈ BOH-ka
safns has a cluster that may feel tricky; the fnsk sequence gets compressed in natural speech
kortið ≈ KOR-tith or KOR-tid depending on how carefully you hear the final sound
er ≈ air with an Icelandic-style rolled or tapped r
hér ≈ hyair or hyer, with é sounding like ye

A few pronunciation points:

ó is a long vowel, roughly like oh
á sounds more like ow
é is usually pronounced like ye
r is typically trilled or tapped
ð is like the th in this

You do not need perfect pronunciation right away, but hér and the ending -ið are especially worth listening to carefully.

Why does hér come at the end? Can it come first?

Yes, hér can come first, but then the word order changes because Icelandic is a verb-second language in main clauses.

You can say:

Bókasafnskortið er hér.
Hér er bókasafnskortið.

Both are natural, but they have slightly different emphasis:

Bókasafnskortið er hér. = neutral statement about where the card is
Hér er bókasafnskortið. = more like Here is the library card / emphasis on location

What you would not normally do in a main clause is keep the verb in third position after fronting hér.

Is bókasafnskort literally built from smaller words?

Yes. Icelandic compounds are often very transparent once you learn the pieces.

A simplified breakdown is:

bók = book
bóka- = of books
safn = collection
bókasafn = library
kort = card
bókasafnskort = library card

So the word is historically very descriptive. English speakers sometimes find these long words intimidating, but they often become easier once you learn to spot the smaller parts.

Would it be wrong to say just Kortið er hér?

Not grammatically wrong at all. It just means something slightly different:

Kortið er hér. = The card is here.
Bókasafnskortið er hér. = The library card is here.

The longer noun is more specific. Icelandic, like English, can use either the more general noun or the more specific compound noun depending on context.

Do Icelandic speakers really use such long words in everyday language?

Yes, absolutely. Long compound nouns are a very normal part of everyday Icelandic.

For learners, they can look overwhelming at first, but native speakers usually process them as meaningful chunks rather than as impossible strings of letters. A good habit is to look for:

the last part of the compound first, since that is often the main noun
then the earlier parts that describe it

In bókasafnskortið, the main noun is kort = card. Everything before it tells you what kind of card it is.

Your questions are stored by us to improve Elon.io