Questions & Answers about Nei, hún er ekki of þröng.
Why use hún (she) when the English translation says 'it'?
In Icelandic, all nouns have a grammatical gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter). When referring back to an object, you use the pronoun that matches its gender. So, this sentence is likely talking about a feminine noun, like a sweater (peysa) or a shirt (skyrta). If you were talking about a masculine object, you would use hann, and you only use það (it) for neuter objects.
Is of used the same way as the English word 'of'?
Not at all! This is a false friend. In Icelandic, of is an adverb of degree that means 'too' or 'excessively'. When you put it right in front of an adjective, like in of þröng (too tight), it tells you the degree of the adjective. Because it is an adverb, of never changes its spelling to match gender.
Why is the adjective þröng instead of the dictionary form þröngur?
Adjectives in Icelandic must match the gender of the noun or pronoun they describe. Because the subject of this sentence is the feminine pronoun hún, the adjective takes the feminine singular form, which is þröng. The dictionary form þröngur would be used if the subject were a masculine pronoun like hann.
Why does ekki come before of in this sentence?
In a standard Icelandic sentence, the verb (er) comes in the second position, and the negative word ekki usually comes right after it. The adverb of degree (of) needs to stay glued right in front of the adjective it modifies (þröng). Therefore, the words fall naturally into the order: verb, negation, degree adverb, adjective.
Learn Nei, hún er ekki of þröng 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