Indefinite spatial location (einhvers staðar, alls staðar, hvergi)

When beachcombing, you might not know exactly where a crab is hiding or where the best shells wash up. Icelandic uses a specific set of adverbs to talk about these indefinite or universal locations. Crucially, these adverbs are for static locations—describing where something currently is, rather than a direction of movement.

Somewhere

To state that something is located "somewhere", use einhvers staðar. It is written as two separate words and literally translates to "of some place".

We are going to pick shells somewhere on the beach.
Við ætlum að tína skeljar einhvers staðar á ströndinni.
The starfish is definitely somewhere in the seaweed.
Krossfiskurinn er örugglega einhvers staðar í þaranum.

Everywhere

When something is scattered all around you, use alls staðar ("everywhere"). Just like einhvers staðar, it consists of two words.

The shells were everywhere when we walked along the coastline.
Skeljarnar voru alls staðar þegar við gengum um strandlengjuna.
There is driftwood everywhere after the storm.
Það er rekaviður alls staðar eftir óveðrið.

Nowhere and Not Anywhere

If your search yields no results, use the single word hvergi to mean "nowhere" or "not anywhere". Because hvergi inherently carries a negative meaning, you do not need to add the standard negative word ekki to the sentence.

I cannot find the crab anywhere on the beach.
Ég finn krabbann hvergi í fjörunni.
The boy wanted to pick shells but couldn't find them anywhere.
Strákurinn vildi tína skeljar en fann þær hvergi.