Til hægri, beint áfram — giving directions

Left, right, straight on

You know hægri and vinstri as adjectives. To send someone somewhere you need them with til:

til hægrito the right
til vinstrito the left
beint áframstraight ahead
The bank is to the right.
Bankinn er til hægri.

Next to

við hliðina á — literally at the side of — takes the dative, and it is the everyday way to locate one building against another.

The bank is next to the church.
Bankinn er við hliðina á kirkjunni.

nálægt near, close by also takes the dative: nálægt bankanum.

The four directions

norðurnorth
suðursouth
austureast
vesturwest

In Icelandic these are used as adverbs of motion far more than as nouns: við keyrum norður, fuglarnir fljúga suður. Icelanders navigate the whole country this way.

We drive north today.
Við keyrum norður í dag.

Contributors