Negative correlatives (hvorki... né)

When service falls short, you might need to make a complaint. To express that neither of two options applies, Icelandic uses the negative correlative conjunction hvorki... né (neither... nor).

Because these words are inherently negative, you do not need to add ekki (not) to the sentence.

The woman got neither an apology nor a refund.
Konan fékk hvorki afsökun né endurgreiðslu.

Linking adjectives

This structure easily links adjectives to describe a less-than-ideal experience.

The food was neither good nor acceptable.
Maturinn var hvorki góður né boðlegur.
The smell in the car was neither bad nor disgusting.
Lyktin í bílnum var hvorki vond né ógeðsleg.

Linking verbs

You can also use hvorki... né to link two actions. Note the verb skammast sín (to be ashamed), which always takes the reflexive pronoun sín.

to be ashamed
skammast sín
The owner neither answered the email nor was ashamed.
Eigandinn hvorki svaraði tölvupóstinum né skammaðist sín.