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Icelandic

Some nouns in Icelandic are always plural. Just like in English, where you have "pants", "scissors", and "glasses", Icelandic has *buxur*, *skæri*, and *gleraugu*.

When taking inventory in a shop, you will often need to count these items:

{{item:1054247}}

Because these words are already plural, you cannot use regular numbers (one, two, three) to count them. Instead, Icelandic uses **distributive numerals**. Think of these as meaning "one pair of", "two pairs of", etc.

### The Distributive Numerals: 1 to 4

Distributive numbers match the noun's gender and case. Since they are only used with plural nouns, they only have plural forms! Here are the forms you need for the subjects (nominative) and objects (accusative) in this lesson:

| Number | Masculine (Nom / Acc) | Feminine (Nom & Acc) | Neuter (Nom & Acc) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **1** | einir / eina | einar | ein |
| **2** | tvennir / tvenna | tvennar | tvenn |
| **3** | þrennir / þrenna | þrennar | þrenn |
| **4** | fernir / ferna | fernar | fern |

### Counting Neuter and Feminine "Pairs"

Words like *skæri* (scissors) and *gleraugu* (glasses) are **neuter plural**. Notice how they use the neuter forms *ein*, *tvenn*, *þrenn*, and *fern*:

{{item:1054250}}

{{item:1054254}}

Words for pants, such as *gallabuxur* (jeans) and *sokkabuxur* (tights) are **feminine plural**. They take the feminine forms ending in *-ar*:

{{item:1054253}}

{{item:1054257}}

### Counting Other Pairs (Masculine)

You can also use distributive numerals for things that naturally come in pairs, like shoes (*skór*) and socks (*sokkar*). These are **masculine**, so they use forms ending in *-ir* for the subject, and *-a* for the object.

Here, *skór* is the subject of the sentence, so it uses the nominative *þrennir*:

{{item:1054258}}

But when you need socks (the object receiving the action), you use the accusative *ferna*:

{{item:1054260}}

Distributive numerals 1 to 4 (einir, tvennir)

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
to count	telja
the stockroom	lagerinn
I need to count the clothes in the stockroom.	Ég þarf að telja fötin á lagernum.
one pair of / one (distributive)	einir
the scissors	skærin
We only have one pair of scissors here.	Við eigum bara ein skæri hér.
two pairs of / two (distributive)	tvennir
the jeans	gallabuxurnar
The customer wants to buy two pairs of jeans.	Viðskiptavinurinn vill kaupa tvennar gallabuxur.
I have finished counting two pairs of glasses.	Ég er búinn að telja tvenn gleraugu.
three pairs of / three (distributive)	þrennir
the tights	sokkabuxurnar
She has bought three pairs of tights.	Hún hefur keypt þrennar sokkabuxur.
Three pairs of shoes are in the box.	Þrennir skór eru í kassanum.
four pairs of / four (distributive)	fernir
We need four pairs of socks.	Okkur vantar ferna sokka.
the order	pöntunin
Are there four pairs of pants in the order?	Eru fernar buxur í pöntuninni?
Do you want one pair of jeans or two?	Vilt þú einar gallabuxur eða tvennar?
We must count three pairs of scissors in the stockroom.	Við verðum að telja þrenn skæri á lagernum.
We have sold four pairs of tights today.	Við höfum selt fernar sokkabuxur í dag.
We need one pair of scissors for this order.	Við þurfum ein skæri fyrir þessa pöntun.