Existential sentences (það)

Setting the Scene with "Það"

When spotting wildlife or describing a scene, English often uses "There is..." or "There are..." (e.g., "There is a fox in the park"). Icelandic does something very similar using the pronoun það (it/there).

Placing það at the start of the sentence shifts the real subject (like a fox or a reindeer) to the position directly after the verb. This structure is used to introduce new, indefinite things into a scene.

Notice how the location is usually a definite place ("the national park", "the lava"), while the animal is indefinite ("a fox", "a reindeer"):

Verbs of Action and Motion

Unlike English, which mostly limits this "there is" structure to the verb "to be", Icelandic uses existential það with almost any active verb. You will frequently hear it with verbs of growth, motion, or appearance to emphasize that an event is happening.

Let's look at how things grow (vaxa) in nature:

This same pattern applies to animals swimming or flying into view:

Focus and Definite Subjects

The existential það structure is specifically for introducing new, indefinite subjects into the conversation.

Let's look at the verb hreyfast (to move). If a new, unseen animal is moving in the distance, we use það to announce it:

However, once the animal is known and definite ("the seal"), we drop the það and use normal word order (Subject + Verb), just like in English:

Ongoing Actions and the Past Tense

You can easily use existential það in the past tense. You can also combine it with the continuous aspect (vera að + infinitive) to set the scene for an ongoing action that was happening in the past: