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Icelandic

### Introducing the Accusative Case

In Icelandic, when a noun receives the action of a verb (like the "book" in "I read a book"), it is called a direct object. Direct objects take a special grammatical form called the **accusative case**.

For many words, you don't actually have to change anything! When dealing with a bare, indefinite noun (meaning "a book" rather than "the book"), neuter nouns like **bréf** and strong feminine nouns like **bók** and **mjólk** look exactly the same in the accusative case as they do in the dictionary.

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### Masculine Nouns in the Accusative

Unlike neuter and feminine nouns, most masculine nouns change their form when they become direct objects. The most common change is dropping their ending.

For example, masculine nouns that end in **-ur** drop the **-ur** (so **fiskur** becomes **fisk**, and **ostur** becomes **ost**). Nouns ending in **-ll** drop one **-l** (so **bíll** becomes **bíl**).

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### Nouns Ending in a Vowel

Nouns that end in a vowel also change in the accusative case:

- Masculine nouns ending in **-i** (like **sími**) change their ending to **-a** (**síma**).
- Feminine nouns ending in **-a** change their ending to **-u**. If the noun has an **a** in the root, this **-u** ending also shifts it to an **ö** (so **kaka** becomes **köku**).

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Direct objects on indefinite 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 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)

Weak adjectives in the nominative (-i, -a, -a)

Question	Answer
to read	lesa
I read a book.	Ég les bók.
the letter	bréfið
We read a letter.	Við lesum bréf.
to write	skrifa
Does he often write a letter?	Skrifar hann oft bréf?
The teacher writes a book.	Kennarinn skrifar bók.
to see	sjá
I see a dog outside.	Ég sé hund úti.
Do you see a car here?	Sérð þú bíl hér?
to love	elska
the cake	kakan
I love cake.	Ég elska köku.
Does the boy eat cake?	Borðar strákurinn köku?
the cheese	osturinn
the fish	fiskurinn
We buy cheese and fish.	Við kaupum ost og fisk.
The man loves fish.	Maðurinn elskar fisk.
I often eat cheese at home.	Ég borða oft ost heima.
the milk	mjólkin
Does the child drink milk?	Drekkur barnið mjólk?
She always drinks milk.	Hún drekkur alltaf mjólk.
the telephone	síminn
I am buying a telephone now.	Ég kaupi síma núna.
Do you see a telephone there?	Sérð þú síma þar?
for (fyrir þig)	fyrir
The cake is for you.	Kakan er fyrir þig.
The letter is for me.	Bréfið er fyrir mig.

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