Accusative plural nouns

When plural nouns act as direct objects, they must be in the accusative case.

Indefinite Accusative Plural

For indefinite (bare) plural nouns:

  • Masculine nouns typically end in -a in the accusative plural.
  • Feminine and Neuter nouns look exactly the same as their nominative plural forms.
I am taking stones.
Ég tek steina.
Do you need chairs?
Þarft þú stóla?
She is cleaning glasses.
Hún þrífur glös.
He has cards.
Hann á kort.

Definite Accusative Plural

To make an accusative plural noun definite, add a suffix based on the noun's gender:

GenderAccusative PluralSuffixDefinite Accusative
Masculinepakka-napakkana
Femininetöskur-nartöskurnar
Neuterglös-inglösin

Notice that for feminine and neuter nouns, the definite accusative plural is identical to the definite nominative plural.

I am taking the packages.
Ég tek pakkana.
Are you cleaning the glasses?
Þrífur þú glösin?
We are buying the socks today.
Við kaupum sokkana í dag.
We are using the bags.
Við notum töskurnar.

Putting It Together

Sentences often mix indefinite and definite plural objects.

I see horses but he sees the cars.
Ég sé hesta en hann sér bílana.
She cleans the glasses but I clean cups.
Hún þrífur glösin en ég þríf bolla.
I have the keys but you only have packages.
Ég á lyklana en þú átt bara pakka.

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