Asking Information Questions
To ask for specific information in Icelandic, start your sentence with a question word. Just like in English, the verb comes immediately after the question word, followed by the subject.
Question Word + Verb + Subject
Hvað (What)
To ask someone's name in Icelandic, you literally ask "What are you called?".
| What is your name? | Hvað heitir þú? |
| What is the boy's name? | Hvað heitir strákurinn? |
You can also use hvað to ask what someone is doing.
| What do you do? | Hvað gerir þú? |
| What are they doing now? | Hvað gera þau núna? |
Hver (Who) and Hvar (Where)
Use hver to ask "who".
| Who is this? | Hver er þetta? |
| Who is the teacher? | Hver er kennarinn? |
To ask "where" something or someone is located, use hvar.
| Where is the shop? | Hvar er búðin? |
| Where are they sitting? | Hvar sitja þeir? |
Hvenær (When) and Hvernig (How)
Use hvenær to ask "when".
| When is the doctor coming? | Hvenær kemur læknirinn? |
To ask when someone is leaving or going somewhere, you will often use the verb fara (to go).
| When are we going? | Hvenær förum við? |
Finally, use hvernig to ask "how". This is frequently used to ask about the condition or quality of something.
| How is the coffee? | Hvernig er kaffið? |
| How is the bread? | Hvernig er brauðið? |
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