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Icelandic

In Icelandic, when you are moving *towards* a destination—like going into, onto, or around a place—the prepositions you use will force the following noun into the accusative case.

### Á (Onto / Up on)

Let's start with the preposition **á** (onto). We will also see the verb **ganga** (to walk). Since **fjallið** (the mountain) is a neuter noun, its definite form looks exactly the same in both the nominative and accusative cases.

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### Um (Around / Through)

The preposition **um** means "around," "through," or "about." It always takes the accusative case. Notice what happens to masculine nouns: the nominative **bærinn** (the town) becomes **bæinn**, and **garðurinn** (the park) becomes **garðinn**. Let's pair it with the verb **keyra** (to drive):

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### Í (Into / To)

When you are going *into* or *to* a specific place, you use **í**. For feminine definite nouns, the accusative ending changes from *-in* to *-ina*. For example, **sundlaugin** (the swimming pool) becomes **sundlaugina**.

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### More Practice with Motion

Let's look at a few more examples combining our verbs of motion with **á**, **um**, and **í**. Here, you will see **vegurinn** (the road) and **skógurinn** (the forest) in their accusative forms (**veginn** and **skóginn**).

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Directional prepositions (um, í, á)

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...)

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
onto / on / in (static location) / on (a day of the week)	á
the mountain	fjallið
We are going up the mountain tonight.	Við förum á fjallið í kvöld.
to walk	ganga
The boy walks up the mountain.	Strákurinn gengur á fjallið.
around	um
the town	bærinn
They are walking around the town.	Þau ganga um bæinn.
to drive	keyra
Don't you drive around the town?	Keyrir þú ekki um bæinn?
the park / the garden	garðurinn
I am going to the park now.	Ég fer í garðinn núna.
The boy walks around the park.	Strákurinn gengur um garðinn.
the swimming pool	sundlaugin
When are they going to the pool?	Hvenær fara þær í sundlaugina?
I want to go to the pool.	Mig langar að fara í sundlaugina.
the road	vegurinn
Dad is driving the car along the road.	Pabbi keyrir bílinn um veginn.
We do not walk onto the road.	Við göngum ekki á veginn.
the forest	skógurinn
The woman is driving through the forest.	Konan keyrir um skóginn.
We are going into the forest together.	Við förum í skóginn saman.
The cat goes onto the table.	Kötturinn fer á borðið.