Chinese (Mandarin)

Spanish

English

Hindi

Arabic (Modern Standard)

Portuguese

Bengali

Russian

Japanese

Punjabi

German

Javanese

Malay

Telugu

Vietnamese

Korean

French

Marathi

Tamil

Urdu

Turkish

Italian

Chinese, Yue / Cantonese

Thai

Gujarati

Chinese, Jin

Chinese, Min Nan

Dari

Farsi

Polish

Pashto

Kannada

Chinese, Xiang

Malayalam

Sundanese

Hausa

Odia

Burmese

Chinese, Hakka

Ukrainian

Bihari, Bhojpuri

Tagalog

Yoruba

Bihari, Maithili

Uzbek

Sindhi

Amharic

Fula

Romanian

Oromo

Igbo

Azerbaijani

Chinese, Gan

Dutch

Kurdish, Central

Kurdish, Northern

Kurdish, Southern

Malagasy

Lahnda, Saraiki

Nepali

Sinhalese

Chittagonian

Zhuang

Khmer

Turkmen

Assamese

Madurese

Somali

Marwari

Bihari, Magahi

Haryanvi

Hungarian

Chhattisgarhi

Greek

Chewa

Dakhini

Akan, Twi

Akan, Fante

Kazakh

Chinese, Min Bei

Sylheti

Zulu

Czech

Kinyarwanda

Marwari, Dhundhari

Haitian Creole

Chinese, Min Dong

Ilocano

Quechua

Kirundi

Swedish

Hmong

Shona

Uyghur

Hiligaynon

Mossi

Xhosa

Belarusian

Balochi

Icelandic

### Weak Adjectives for Direct Address

When you are speaking or writing directly to someone—like penning fan mail to your favorite celebrity—you must use the **weak declension** of adjectives. This is sometimes called the vocative use. 

The weak forms of adjectives are very predictable: they almost always end in a vowel. 

### Masculine: -i

When addressing a male person or a masculine noun (like *vinur*, *söngvari*, or *leikari*), the adjective takes an **-i** ending. 

For example, *kær* (dear) becomes *kæri*, and *góður* (good) becomes *góði*.

{{item:1075732}}

{{item:1075734}}

### Feminine and Neuter: -a

When addressing a female person or a feminine noun (like *söngkona*, *leikkona*, or *fyrirmynd*), the adjective takes an **-a** ending. 

{{item:1075747}}

{{item:1075743}}

You also use the **-a** ending when addressing someone using a neuter noun, such as *tónskáld* (composer).

{{item:1075750}}

### Bigger Words, Same Rules

This rule applies to all adjectives, no matter how long or complex. Expressive adjectives like *óviðjafnanlegur* (incomparable), *ástkær* (beloved), or *hógvær* (humble) will still take the *-i* or *-a* ending depending on the gender of the person or noun you are praising.

{{item:1075738}}

{{item:1075749}}

Vocative adjectives (kæri, góði)

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
beloved	ástkær
Beloved singer, I was listening to your music.	Ástkæri söngvari, ég var að hlusta á tónlistina þína.
the inspiration	innblásturinn
Dear Jón, you are my inspiration.	Kæri Jón, þú ert innblásturinn minn.
the fan	aðdáandinn
Good friend, I am your biggest fan.	Góði vinur, ég er stærsti aðdáandinn þinn.
incomparable	óviðjafnanlegur
to adore	dýrka
the brilliance	snilldin
Incomparable actor, I adore you and your brilliance.	Óviðjafnanlegi leikari, ég dýrka þig og snilldina þína.
humble	hógvær
Humble master, we adore the brilliance in your work.	Hógværi meistari, við dýrkum snilldina í verkinu þínu.
kind-hearted	góðhjartaður
the role model	fyrirmyndin
Kind-hearted Anna, you are her role model.	Góðhjartaða Anna, þú ert fyrirmyndin hennar.
the autograph	eiginhandaráritunin
Fantastic role model, could you send me your autograph?	Frábæra fyrirmynd, gætirðu sent mér eiginhandaráritunina þína?
Humble fan, you have yet to meet your hero.	Hógværi aðdáandi, þú átt eftir að hitta hetjuna þína.
Dear singer, I still have your autograph.	Kæra söngkona, ég á ennþá eiginhandaráritunina þína.
Kind-hearted hero, you will always be my inspiration.	Góðhjartaða hetja, þú munt alltaf vera innblásturinn minn.
Incomparable actress, we are going to watch your movie.	Óviðjafnanlega leikkona, við ætlum að horfa á bíómyndina þína.
Good composer, you have yet to compose another masterpiece.	Góða tónskáld, þú átt eftir að semja annað meistaraverk.
Beloved friend, I have a great interest in your music.	Ástkæra vinkona, ég hef mikinn áhuga á tónlistinni þinni.