Þetta er bók og hún er hér.

Breakdown of Þetta er bók og hún er hér.

þetta
this
vera
to be
hér
here
bókin
the book
og
and
hún
she

Questions & Answers about Þetta er bók og hún er hér.

Why use hún for a book? Doesn't hún mean "she"?
Yes, hún means "she", but Icelandic uses grammatical gender for all nouns. Because bók is a feminine word, you must use the feminine pronoun hún when referring back to it, even though we translate it as "it" in English.
Why does the sentence start with þetta instead of a feminine word if bók is feminine?
When you are just pointing to something and saying "This is...", you use the general, neutral word þetta because you haven't grammatically identified what the object is yet. Once you establish that it's a bók, you switch to the matching feminine pronoun hún.
I see the word er twice. Which pronouns does it go with?
Er is the form of the verb "to be" that goes with "he", "she", and "it" (hann, hún, það). In this sentence, it pairs with þetta (this) and hún (she/it). You will also use er with ég (I).
Where is the word for "a" in "a book"?
Icelandic doesn't have a separate word for "a" or "an". The word bók on its own translates perfectly to "a book".

Learn Þetta er bók og hún er hér and more in Icelandic

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • Practice with interactive exercises
  • Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • Learn at your own pace — completely free