Saying "Every Other" with "annar hver"
To describe alternating schedules, like working "every other day" or "every other week," Icelandic uses the phrase annar hver.
| every other (m) / önnur hver (f) / annað hvert (n) | annar hver |
When expressing how often something happens, the time phrase takes the accusative case. Both words in the phrase decline to match the gender of the time noun they describe.
For feminine nouns like vika (week) or helgi (weekend), the accusative form is aðra hverja.
| The roster shows that I work on the night shift every other week. | Vaktaskráin sýnir að ég vinn á næturvakt aðra hverja viku. |
For masculine nouns like mánuður (month) or dagur (day), the accusative form is annan hvern.
| The supervisor has put me on the day shift every other month. | Verkstjórinn er búinn að setja mig á dagvakt annan hvern mánuð. |
For neuter nouns like kvöld (evening), the accusative form is annað hvert.
| I work on the day shift every other day, but the remote work is every other evening. | Ég vinn á dagvakt annan hvern dag, en fjarvinnan er annað hvert kvöld. |
Taking Turns
When discussing shared schedules, you will often talk about people taking turns. To say "to take turns doing something," use the verb phrase skiptast á að followed by an infinitive verb.
| to take turns | skiptast á |
| We take turns making the roster. | Við skiptumst á að gera vaktaskrána. |
You can seamlessly combine this with your new frequency phrases to describe rotating shifts, like alternating overtime (yfirvinna).
| They take turns working overtime every other evening. | Þeir skiptast á að vinna yfirvinnu annað hvert kvöld. |