Geometric shapes

Angles and Corners

In Icelandic, many flat geometric shapes are compound words built from the word horn (corner or angle). When turned into a shape suffix, this becomes -hyrningur.

  • þríhyrningur (triangle) comes from þrír (three) + horn.
  • rétthyrningur (rectangle) comes from réttur (straight or right) + horn.

Another basic shape is the ferningur (square), which derives from the root for the number four. All of these are strong masculine nouns.

The square is red, but the circle is blue.
Ferningurinn er rauður en hringurinn er blár.
Here is a large rectangle.
Hér er stór rétthyrningur.
The triangle and the square are both blue.
Þríhyrningurinn og ferningurinn eru báðir bláir.

Curves and 3D Forms

When describing curved lines or three-dimensional objects, the vocabulary shifts. Many of these forms are weak nouns, meaning they end in a vowel in their basic nominative form.

For example, kúla (sphere) is a weak feminine noun, while píramídi (pyramid) and bogi (curve) are weak masculine nouns.

Now they are looking at the red sphere.
Núna eru þeir að skoða rauðu kúluna.
The pyramid is an old building.
Píramídinn er gömul bygging.
Are you drawing a line or a curve?
Ert þú að teikna línu eða boga?

Points and Surfaces

To talk about the properties of these shapes, you will need words like punktur (point) and flötur (surface). Both are strong masculine nouns.

The line begins here at this point.
Línan byrjar hérna á þessum punkti.

Be aware that flötur undergoes a vowel shift in the plural. A single surface is a flötur, but multiple surfaces are fletir. If they are the object of a sentence (in the accusative case), the form becomes fleti.

Let's see this plural form in action when describing a cube (teningur):

The cube has six surfaces.
Teningurinn er með sex fleti.
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