Picture a cartoon snowball rolling down a steep mountain. As it goes, it gathers snow, momentum, and terror!
| The snowball rolls down the slope. | Snjóboltinn rúllar niður hlíðina. |
Iterative Comparisons
To describe continuous change—like something getting increasingly larger or heavier—Icelandic repeats the comparative form of an adjective or adverb, joining the two words with og (and). This works exactly like saying "bigger and bigger" in English.
When using an adjective, the comparative form agrees with the noun it describes. For a masculine noun like snjóboltinn (the snowball) or the pronoun hann (he/it), the adjective takes the masculine form.
| It gets bigger and bigger. | Hann verður stærri og stærri. |
| It gets heavier and heavier as it rolls down the slope. | Hann verður þyngri og þyngri þegar hann rúllar niður hlíðina. |
Using Adverbs
You can apply the exact same structure to adverbs to describe an intensifying action. Because adverbs describe verbs rather than nouns, their forms are invariable and do not change to match gender or case.
| The momentum intensifies and it goes faster and faster. | Skriðþunginn magnast og hann fer hraðar og hraðar. |
The Grand Finale
As the snowball gets larger and faster, the situation gets out of hand!
| The rumble from the mountain gets louder and louder. | Gnýrinn frá fjallinu verður háværari og háværari. |
| We must run away from it before it steamrolls over us. | Við þurfum að hlaupa undan honum áður en hann valtar yfir okkur. |