When you want to say that an event happens "during the day," "at night," or "in the winter," you are talking about broad temporal periods. In Icelandic, this is expressed using the preposition um.
The Preposition "um" for Time
To say "during" or "in" a certain time of day, part of the week, or season, you use um followed by the noun in the accusative case.
When used this way, the time period almost always takes the definite article. For instance, "the winter" is veturinn, and because its form is the same in the accusative, it becomes um veturinn (during the winter). However, "the day" (dagurinn) changes to the accusative daginn, giving us um daginn (during the day).
More Times of Day
This reliable pattern applies to all times of the day, as well as weekends and other seasons. Just remember to use the accusative definite form:
- nóttin (the night) becomes um nóttina
- morguninn (the morning) becomes um morguninn
- kvöldið (the evening) becomes um kvöldið
Vocabulary Focus: The Dog Sled Race
This lesson's vocabulary revolves around the extreme conditions of a long-distance dog sled race (hundasleðakeppnin). When discussing such intense events, words describing continuous effort, harshness, and stamina are essential.
| the stamina (endurance, perseverance) | þolgæðið |