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Icelandic

When dealing with redacted documents or government cover-ups, you will often need to say that "nobody" knows the truth, or that you cannot find "any" information. In Icelandic, you express this using the word **neinn**.

### Using "neinn" (any / anybody)

**neinn** is a negative polarity word. On its own, it doesn't actually mean "nobody" or "nothing"—it means "any", "anybody", or "anything". It is used almost exclusively in negative contexts, such as in sentences with **ekki** (not), with negative prepositions like **án** (without), or in questions.

When standing alone as a pronoun, **neinn** usually means "anybody" or "anyone". The neuter singular form, **neitt**, is used to mean "anything".

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### "neinn" as a Determiner

**neinn** can also be placed directly before a noun to mean "any". When used this way, it acts as a determiner and must agree with its noun in gender, case, and number. 

It declines exactly like the number **einn** (one), just with an *n-* added to the beginning. Here are the singular forms:

| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | neinn | nein | neitt |
| Accusative | neinn | neina | neitt |
| Dative | neinum | neinni | neinu |
| Genitive | neins | neinnar | neins |

*Note: When modifying a plural noun, **neinn** takes plural endings, such as **neinar** for feminine plural nouns or **nein** for neuter plural nouns.*

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### State Secrets

Discussing cover-ups introduces a few specialized nouns. Notice how these are used in context when finding proof of a conspiracy or dealing with a leak.

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Negative pronoun (neinn)

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)

Kveðjur — greetings (halló, bless)

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)

Question	Answer
the press officer	blaðafulltrúinn
The press officer did not talk to anybody.	Blaðafulltrúinn talaði ekki við neinn.
the censorship	ritskoðunin
to conceal	leyna
The censorship conceals the truth without anyone knowing it.	Ritskoðunin leynir sannleikanum án þess að neinn viti það.
the public	almenningurinn
The public does not have any information.	Almenningurinn hefur ekki neinar upplýsingar.
the whistleblower	uppljóstrarinn
the leak	lekinn
The whistleblower was responsible for the leak.	Uppljóstrarinn bar ábyrgð á lekanum.
to reveal	opinbera
The board will not reveal any secrets.	Stjórnin mun ekki opinbera nein leyndarmál.
the cover-up	þöggunin
The press officer confirms that the cover-up is a fact.	Blaðafulltrúinn staðfestir að þöggunin er staðreynd.
to cross	strika
The censorship becomes clear when they cross out the words.	Ritskoðunin verður skýr þegar þeir strika yfir orðin.
The truth will be revealed before anyone sees the document.	Sannleikurinn verður opinberaður áður en neinn sér skjalið.
She wants to conceal the leak without anyone finding the facts.	Hún vill leyna lekanum án þess að neinn finni staðreyndirnar.
The public is angry because the board conceals the truth.	Almenningurinn er reiður af því að stjórnin leynir sannleikanum.
The whistleblower sees that they cross out the text.	Uppljóstrarinn sér að þeir strika yfir textann.
The press officer does not talk to anyone about the cover-up.	Blaðafulltrúinn talar ekki við neinn um þöggunina.
to censor	ritskoða
The state has not finished censoring any document.	Ríkið er ekki búið að ritskoða neitt skjal.
the conspiracy	samsærið
The whistleblower did not want to talk to anybody about the conspiracy.	Uppljóstrarinn vildi ekki tala við neinn um samsærið.
We did not find any proof of the conspiracy.	Við fundum ekki neina sönnun samsærisins.
Could the press officer have censored anything?	Gæti blaðafulltrúinn hafa ritskoðað neitt?