Chinese (Mandarin)

Spanish

English

Hindi

Arabic (Modern Standard)

Portuguese

Bengali

Russian

Japanese

Punjabi

German

Javanese

Malay

Telugu

Vietnamese

Korean

French

Marathi

Tamil

Urdu

Turkish

Italian

Chinese, Yue / Cantonese

Thai

Gujarati

Chinese, Jin

Chinese, Min Nan

Dari

Farsi

Polish

Pashto

Kannada

Chinese, Xiang

Malayalam

Sundanese

Hausa

Odia

Burmese

Chinese, Hakka

Ukrainian

Bihari, Bhojpuri

Tagalog

Yoruba

Bihari, Maithili

Uzbek

Sindhi

Amharic

Fula

Romanian

Oromo

Igbo

Azerbaijani

Chinese, Gan

Dutch

Kurdish, Central

Kurdish, Northern

Kurdish, Southern

Malagasy

Lahnda, Saraiki

Nepali

Sinhalese

Chittagonian

Zhuang

Khmer

Turkmen

Assamese

Madurese

Somali

Marwari

Bihari, Magahi

Haryanvi

Hungarian

Chhattisgarhi

Greek

Chewa

Dakhini

Akan, Twi

Akan, Fante

Kazakh

Chinese, Min Bei

Sylheti

Zulu

Czech

Kinyarwanda

Marwari, Dhundhari

Haitian Creole

Chinese, Min Dong

Ilocano

Quechua

Kirundi

Swedish

Hmong

Shona

Uyghur

Hiligaynon

Mossi

Xhosa

Belarusian

Balochi

Icelandic

Icelandic often builds new words by sticking smaller words together to form compound nouns (*samsett orð*). The golden rule: the **last word** determines the gender, plural form, and declension of the whole compound.

Let's look at how Icelandic names hotel amenities by connecting nouns.

### Bare Stem Compounds

The simplest way to form a compound is by joining the words directly using the bare stem of the first word. For example, **hótel** (hotel) + **herbergi** (room) = **hótelherbergi**.

{{item:1061007}}

{{item:1061009}}

Similarly, **kaffi** (coffee) + **bolli** (cup) = **kaffibolli**.

{{item:1061012}}

### The Genitive Link: Adding an "-s"

Often, Icelandic links nouns by putting the first one into the genitive (possessive) case. The most common genitive ending is **-s**. Think of it like "the room's service" or "the desk's lamp".

- **herbergi** (room) → **herbergis** + **þjónusta** (service) = **herbergisþjónusta**
- **skrifborð** (desk) → **skrifborðs** + **lampi** (lamp) = **skrifborðslampi**

{{item:1061014}}

{{item:1061017}}

You will also see this linking **-s** with words like **sjónvarp** (television) and **farangur** (luggage):

{{item:1061019}}

{{item:1061022}}

### The Genitive Link: Adding an "-ar"

Some nouns take **-ar** in the genitive instead of **-s**. This is especially common for feminine nouns (like **sundlaug** - swimming pool) and some masculine nouns (like **morgunmatur** - breakfast).

- **morgunmatur** (breakfast) → **morgunmatar** + **tími** (time) = **morgunmatartími**
- **sundlaug** (pool) → **sundlaugar** + **handklæði** (towel) = **sundlaugarhandklæði**

{{item:1061026}}

{{item:1061028}}

{{item:1061031}}

Compound nouns

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Presentative and the definite suffix (þetta er, -inn, -in, -ið)

Singular pronouns and to be (ég er, þú ert)

Singular adjective agreement

Yes/no questions (ert þú…?)

Basic negation (ekki)

Plural pronouns and to be (við erum, þeir eru)

Group 1 weak verbs (-ar)

Group 2 and 3 verbs (-ir, -ur)

Information questions (hvað, hver, hvar)

Expressing opinions (mér finnst, mér líkar)

Expressing desires (mig langar)

Numbers 1 to 10 (einn, tveir, þrír)

Direct objects on indefinite nouns

Direct objects on definite nouns

Singular object pronouns (mig, þig...)

Plural object pronouns (okkur, ykkur...)

Directional prepositions (um, í, á)

Verb-second word order

Expressing intentions (ætla að)

Needs and wants (þurfa, vilja)

Middle voice verbs (-st)

Possessive pronouns (minn, þinn)

Dative case with prepositions (í, á, frá)

Definite dative nouns (-num, -nni, -nu)

Dative personal pronouns (honum, henni, þeim)

Plural nouns (-ar, -ir, -ur)

Definite plural nouns (-nir, -nar, -in)

Accusative plural nouns

Number agreement 1 to 4 (einn, tveir…)

Singular commands

Past tense of the verb to be (var, vorum)

Present continuous (vera að)

Strong verbs in the present tense

Weather and dummy subjects (það)

Invariable possessive pronouns (hans, hennar, þeirra)

Accusative possessives (minn, þinn)

Accompaniment (með)

Dative plural (-um, -unum)

Compound sentences (og, en, eða)

"This" in the nominative (þessi, þessi, þetta)

"This" in the accusative (þennan, þessa, þetta)

Accusative adjectives (-an, -a, -t)

Numbers 1 to 4 in the accusative (einn, tvo, þrjá)

Third-person reflexive pronouns (sig, sér)

The preposition "to" with the genitive (til)

Subordinating conjunctions (að, af því að)

Simple past of weak verbs (-aði)

Question words (hvernig, hvaða)

Physical possession (vera með)

Abstract possession (hafa)

Telling time (hálf, korter)

Plural commands (-ið)

The simple past tense (-di, -ti, -ði)

Possessive noun endings (-s, -ar)

Days of the week (á mánudaginn, á mánudögum)

Kveðjur — greetings (halló, bless)

Um mig — where I am from

Kurteisi — please, sorry, congratulations

Ability and knowing how (kunna að)

Permission (mega)

Obligation (eiga að)

Plural strong verbs

Numbers 11 to 20 (ellefu, tólf...)

Counting by tens to 100 (þrjátíu, fjörutíu...)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (fyrsti, annar...)

All / everything / everyone (allur)

The indefinite pronoun someone (einhver)

The indefinite pronoun no one (enginn)

Compound numbers from 21 (tuttugu og)

This in the dative singular (þessum, þessari, þessu)

These in the dative plural (þessum)

My and your in the dative (mínum, þínum)

Numbers 1 to 4 in the dative (einum, tveimur)

Adjectives in the dative singular (-um, -ri, -u)

Adjectives in the dative plural (-um)

Reflexive possessive in the accusative (sinn, sína, sitt)

Reflexive possessive in the dative (sínum, sinni)

Reflexive versus regular possessives (sinn, hans)

Demonstrative plural (þessir, þessar, þessi)

Definite genitive singular (-sins, -arinnar)

Indefinite genitive plural (-a)

Definite genitive plural (-anna)

Genitive prepositions (án, milli, vegna)

Prepositions of direction (yfir, undir, fyrir)

Prepositions of static location (yfir, undir, fyrir)

Question	Answer
the hotel room	hótelherbergið
The hotel room is both large and bright.	Hótelherbergið er bæði stórt og bjart.
the hotel manager	hótelstjórinn
The hotel manager cleans the hotel room.	Hótelstjórinn þrífur hótelherbergið.
the coffee cup	kaffibollinn
The hotel manager always has a coffee cup.	Hótelstjórinn er alltaf með kaffibolla.
Is the coffee cup inside the hotel room?	Er kaffibollinn inni í hótelherberginu?
the room service	herbergisþjónustan
Room service will arrive in two hours.	Herbergisþjónustan kemur eftir tvo klukkutíma.
Did you order room service?	Pantaðir þú herbergisþjónustu?
the desk lamp	skrifborðslampinn
The desk lamp is broken.	Skrifborðslampinn er bilaður.
the TV screen	sjónvarpsskjárinn
He turns on the desk lamp and looks at the TV screen.	Hann kveikir á skrifborðslampanum og horfir á sjónvarpsskjáinn.
the luggage room	farangursgeymslan
The luggage room is straight ahead.	Farangursgeymslan er beint áfram.
You can leave the bag in the luggage room.	Þú getur skilið töskuna eftir í farangursgeymslunni.
The TV screen is very expensive.	Sjónvarpsskjárinn er mjög dýr.
the breakfast time	morgunmatartíminn
When is breakfast time?	Hvenær er morgunmatartíminn?
Breakfast time is in five minutes.	Morgunmatartíminn er eftir fimm mínútur.
the pool towel	sundlaugarhandklæðið
Do you have the pool towel?	Ert þú með sundlaugarhandklæðið?
the pool attendant	sundlaugarvörðurinn
The pool attendant takes the pool towel.	Sundlaugarvörðurinn tekur sundlaugarhandklæðið.
Is the pool attendant by the reception?	Er sundlaugarvörðurinn hjá móttökunni?