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Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Bakhliðin er hvít. - The reverse side is white.

Hardcore Icelandic
/Having a board-game evening
/Bakhliðin er hvít.

Bakhliðin er hvít.

Bakhliðin er hvít.

The reverse side is white.

Breakdown of Bakhliðin er hvít.

the reverse side

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Questions & Answers about Bakhliðin er hvít.

Why does bakhliðin end in -in?

The ending -in is the definite article, equivalent to English the.
So:

bakhlið = back side / reverse side
bakhliðin = the back side / the reverse side

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

What is the dictionary form of bakhliðin?

The dictionary form is bakhlið. The form in the sentence, bakhliðin, is the same noun with the definite article added.

Why is there no separate word for the?

Because Icelandic usually expresses the as a suffix on the noun. That is why English the back side becomes bakhliðin rather than a two-word phrase.

There is also a separate article in Icelandic, but it is not the normal choice in a simple sentence like this one.

What does er mean?

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

This is a very common irregular verb, so it is worth memorizing early:

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

Why is the adjective hvít?

Because Icelandic adjectives must agree with the noun they describe in gender, number, and usually case.

Here, bakhliðin is feminine singular, so the adjective also appears in the matching form:

feminine singular: hvít
masculine singular: hvítur
neuter singular: hvítt

So hvít tells you that the noun is feminine singular here.

Why isn’t it hvíta?

Because hvít is a predicate adjective here: it comes after er and describes the subject.

After vera (to be), Icelandic usually uses the strong adjective form:

Bakhliðin er hvít.

A form like hvíta is what you expect when the adjective stands directly before a definite noun:

hvíta bakhliðin = the white back side

So:

bakhliðin er hvít = predicate adjective
hvíta bakhliðin = attributive adjective

Is bakhliðin feminine? How can I tell?

Yes, it is feminine in this sentence. You can tell in two main ways:

A dictionary or word list will mark bakhlið as feminine.
The adjective form hvít matches a feminine singular noun.

In Icelandic, noun gender is something you usually learn together with the noun itself.

Why is the adjective after the noun?

It is not directly after the noun in the same way as English the white side. Instead, it comes after the verb er.

The structure is:

Bakhliðin = subject
er = verb
hvít = predicate adjective

So this is the Icelandic equivalent of The back side is white, not the white back side.

Is bakhliðin really one word?

Yes. Icelandic uses compound words very often, and they are normally written as one word.

That means something that looks like two words in English can easily be a single word in Icelandic. This is completely normal and very common.

Can I also say Bakhlið er hvít?

Yes, but it changes the meaning.

Bakhliðin er hvít. = The back side is white.
Bakhlið er hvít. = A back side is white or back side is white, depending on context

The version with -in is definite, so it refers to a specific back side.

How do you pronounce hvít and bakhliðin?

A rough English-friendly guide:

hvít ≈ kveet
In modern Icelandic, hv is often pronounced close to kv.
bakhliðin ≈ BAHKH-hli-thin
A few notes:
- bakh has a sound like ch in Scottish loch or German Bach
- í sounds like ee
- ð sounds like th in this

The exact Icelandic sounds do not match English perfectly, so an approximation is normal at first.

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