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Icelandic

Just as in English, the Icelandic prefix **mis-** indicates that an action was done incorrectly, badly, or by mistake. It attaches easily to verbs, nouns, and adjectives to describe errors, clumsiness, and blunders.

### Communication and Thought

When we speak, listen, or think, things often go wrong. Adding **mis-** to *skilja* (understand) creates *misskilja* (misunderstand) and the noun *misskilningur* (misunderstanding).

If you say the wrong word, you use the verb *mismæla sig* (literally "to misspeak oneself"). Notice that some of these verbs require the reflexive pronoun *sig* (oneself).

Others are impersonal verbs. For example, *misminna* (to misremember) happens *to* you, rather than being an action you consciously perform, so the person experiencing the memory slip is placed in the accusative case (e.g., *mig misminnti* - I remembered incorrectly).

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### Clumsiness and Misjudgments

You can also apply **mis-** to physical actions and personal assessments. If you take a bad step and twist your ankle, you use the reflexive verb *misstíga sig* ("mis-step oneself"). 

Similarly, if you make a bad estimate, you might *misreikna sig* (miscalculate oneself) or *misdæma* (misjudge). The reflexive *sig* is very common when describing a personal blunder you bring upon yourself.

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### Failures and Ruined Plans

When entire events, meals, or projects go wrong, Icelandic uses middle voice verbs (ending in **-st**). The verbs *misheppnast* and *mistakast* both translate to "to fail" or "to go wrong."

You can also use the past participle form as an adjective, such as *misheppnaður* (failed or ruined), which declines to match the gender, number, and case of the noun it describes.

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Prefix for mistakes (mis-)

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
to misunderstand	misskilja
I misunderstood the message, sorry.	Ég misskildi skilaboðin, fyrirgefðu.
the misunderstanding	misskilningurinn
Didn't you misunderstand him? Yes, it was a bad misunderstanding.	Misskildir þú hann ekki? Jú, þetta var slæmur misskilningur.
We need to fix this misunderstanding.	Við þurfum að laga þennan misskilning.
to misstep	misstíga sig
I just twisted my ankle badly in the garden.	Ég er nýbúinn að misstíga mig illa í garðinum.
She was so tired that she took a bad step and fell.	Hún var svo þreytt að hún missteig sig og datt.
to go wrong	misheppnast
The dinner went completely wrong.	Kvöldmaturinn misheppnaðist alveg.
failed	misheppnaður
Did the project fail? Yes, it was completely unsuccessful.	Misheppnaðist verkefnið? Já, það var alveg misheppnað.
The ruined cake was so bad that we threw it away.	Misheppnaða kakan var svo vond að við hentum henni.
to fail	mistakast
The experiment failed today.	Tilraunin mistókst í dag.
to misremember	misminna
I remembered wrong, sorry.	Mig misminnti, fyrirgefðu.
Isn't she remembering wrong? Yes, it wasn't yesterday.	Misminnir hana ekki? Jú, það var ekki í gær.
to miscalculate	misreikna sig
I have just miscalculated completely.	Ég er nýbúinn að misreikna mig gjörsamlega.
to misjudge	misdæma
He miscalculated and misjudged the situation.	Hann misreiknaði sig og misdæmdi ástandið.
You are just misjudging the new employee.	Þú ert bara að misdæma nýja starfsmanninn.
to misspeak	mismæla sig
I misspoke, I meant something else.	Ég mismælti mig, ég meinti eitthvað annað.
The teacher misspoke in the lesson.	Kennarinn mismælti sig í kennslustundinni.
Didn't the test fail? Yes, it failed.	Mistókst prófið ekki? Jú, það mistókst.