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Icelandic

### Saying Hello

Icelandic greetings scale with the time of day and with how well you know someone:

| greeting | use |
|---|---|
| **halló** | hello — neutral, any time |
| **hæ** | hi — casual, among friends |
| **góðan daginn** | good day — the standard daytime greeting |
| **gott kvöld** | good evening |
| **góða nótt** | good night — only when parting for the night |

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The warmest pair is **komdu sæll** (to a man) and **komdu sæl** (to a woman) — literally *come happy*. Learn them as fixed formulas; the ending changes with the person you are greeting, not with you.

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### How Are You?

The everyday exchange is **Hvað segirðu gott?** — literally *what do you say (that is) good?* — answered with **allt gott** (*all good*), usually followed by **takk** (*thanks*) and the question bounced back with *en þú?*

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When someone wishes YOU something — a good evening, a good night — answer **sömuleiðis**: *likewise, same to you*.

### Saying Goodbye

**Bless** is the everyday goodbye, and **sjáumst** — *we'll see each other* — is *see you!* between people who will meet again. They stack happily: *Bless! Sjáumst.*

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Kveðjur — greetings (halló, bless)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Presentative and the definite suffix (þetta er, -inn, -in, -ið)

Singular pronouns and to be (ég er, þú ert)

Singular adjective agreement

Yes/no questions (ert þú…?)

Basic negation (ekki)

Plural pronouns and to be (við erum, þeir eru)

Group 1 weak verbs (-ar)

Group 2 and 3 verbs (-ir, -ur)

Information questions (hvað, hver, hvar)

Expressing opinions (mér finnst, mér líkar)

Expressing desires (mig langar)

Numbers 1 to 10 (einn, tveir, þrír)

Direct objects on indefinite nouns

Direct objects on definite nouns

Singular object pronouns (mig, þig...)

Plural object pronouns (okkur, ykkur...)

Directional prepositions (um, í, á)

Verb-second word order

Expressing intentions (ætla að)

Needs and wants (þurfa, vilja)

Middle voice verbs (-st)

Possessive pronouns (minn, þinn)

Dative case with prepositions (í, á, frá)

Definite dative nouns (-num, -nni, -nu)

Dative personal pronouns (honum, henni, þeim)

Plural nouns (-ar, -ir, -ur)

Definite plural nouns (-nir, -nar, -in)

Accusative plural nouns

Number agreement 1 to 4 (einn, tveir…)

Singular commands

Past tense of the verb to be (var, vorum)

Present continuous (vera að)

Strong verbs in the present tense

Weather and dummy subjects (það)

Invariable possessive pronouns (hans, hennar, þeirra)

Accusative possessives (minn, þinn)

Accompaniment (með)

Dative plural (-um, -unum)

Compound sentences (og, en, eða)

"This" in the nominative (þessi, þessi, þetta)

"This" in the accusative (þennan, þessa, þetta)

Accusative adjectives (-an, -a, -t)

Numbers 1 to 4 in the accusative (einn, tvo, þrjá)

Third-person reflexive pronouns (sig, sér)

The preposition "to" with the genitive (til)

Subordinating conjunctions (að, af því að)

Simple past of weak verbs (-aði)

Question words (hvernig, hvaða)

Physical possession (vera með)

Abstract possession (hafa)

Telling time (hálf, korter)

Plural commands (-ið)

The simple past tense (-di, -ti, -ði)

Possessive noun endings (-s, -ar)

Days of the week (á mánudaginn, á mánudögum)

Um mig — where I am from

Kurteisi — please, sorry, congratulations

Ability and knowing how (kunna að)

Permission (mega)

Obligation (eiga að)

Plural strong verbs

Numbers 11 to 20 (ellefu, tólf...)

Counting by tens to 100 (þrjátíu, fjörutíu...)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (fyrsti, annar...)

All / everything / everyone (allur)

The indefinite pronoun someone (einhver)

The indefinite pronoun no one (enginn)

Compound numbers from 21 (tuttugu og)

This in the dative singular (þessum, þessari, þessu)

These in the dative plural (þessum)

My and your in the dative (mínum, þínum)

Numbers 1 to 4 in the dative (einum, tveimur)

Adjectives in the dative singular (-um, -ri, -u)

Adjectives in the dative plural (-um)

Reflexive possessive in the accusative (sinn, sína, sitt)

Reflexive possessive in the dative (sínum, sinni)

Reflexive versus regular possessives (sinn, hans)

Demonstrative plural (þessir, þessar, þessi)

Definite genitive singular (-sins, -arinnar)

Indefinite genitive plural (-a)

Definite genitive plural (-anna)

Genitive prepositions (án, milli, vegna)

Prepositions of direction (yfir, undir, fyrir)

Prepositions of static location (yfir, undir, fyrir)

Weak adjectives in the nominative (-i, -a, -a)

Question	Answer
hello	halló
Hello! What is your name?	Halló! Hvað heitir þú?
Hello! Is the doctor here?	Halló! Er læknirinn hér?
hi	hæ
Hi! Are you the student?	Hæ! Ert þú nemandinn?
good day (daytime greeting)	góðan daginn
Good day! Is the shop open?	Góðan daginn! Er búðin opin?
good evening	gott kvöld
Good evening! The food is good.	Gott kvöld! Maturinn er góður.
Good evening! I am hungry.	Gott kvöld! Ég er svangur.
good night	góða nótt
Good night! I am tired.	Góða nótt! Ég er þreyttur.
hello (greeting a man)	komdu sæll
Hello! What is your name? (to a man)	Komdu sæll! Hvað heitir þú?
Hello! Are you new here? (to a man)	Komdu sæll! Ert þú nýr hér?
hello (greeting a woman)	komdu sæl
Hello! Are you the doctor? (to a woman)	Komdu sæl! Ert þú læknirinn?
Hello! Good to see you. (to a woman)	Komdu sæl! Gott að sjá þig.
how are you doing? (greeting question)	hvað segirðu gott
Hi! How are you doing?	Hæ! Hvað segirðu gott?
Good day! How are you doing?	Góðan daginn! Hvað segirðu gott?
all good; fine (greeting reply)	allt gott
All good! I am happy.	Allt gott! Ég er glaður.
thanks	takk
All good, thanks. And you?	Allt gott, takk. En þú?
likewise, same to you	sömuleiðis
Good night! Same to you.	Góða nótt! Sömuleiðis.
Thanks, same to you!	Takk, sömuleiðis!
goodbye	bless
Bye! I am going home.	Bless! Ég fer heim.
see you! (parting)	sjáumst
Bye! See you.	Bless! Sjáumst.
See you at home.	Sjáumst heima.

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