Alarics modern Icelandic magic sheet, version 2.

1
nouns (most common in bold, with examples with the suffixed definite article in brackets) adjectives
strong weak strong weak possessive adjective
(example, strong only)
masculine neuter feminine masc. neuter fem.
a-plural -nn, -ll i-plural weird ir-plural ar-plural ur-pl. masc. neuter fem. masc. neuter fem. masc. neuter fem.

N. sg. fiskur(-inn) steinn staur kttur land(-i) kvi mynd(-in) grein bk nemi hjarta saga N. sg. langur langt lng langi langa langa minn mitt mn
A. fisk(-inn) stein sta ktt land(-i) kvi mynd(-ina) grein bk nema hjarta sgu A. langan langt langa langa langa lngu minn mitt mna
G. fisks(-ins) steins staar kattar lands(-ins) kvis myndar(-innar) greinar bkar nema hjarta sgu G. langs langs langrar langa langa lngu mns mns minnar
D. fiski(-num) steini sta ketti landi(-nu) kvi mynd(-inni) grein bk nema hjarta sgu D. lngum lngu langri langa langa lngu mnum mnu minni
N. pl. fiskar(-nir) steinar stair kettir lnd(-in) kvi myndir(-nar) greinar bkur nemar hjrtu sgur N. pl. langir lng langar lngu lngu lngu mnir mn mnar
A. fiska(-na) steina stai ketti lnd(-in) kvi myndir(-nar) greinar bkur nema hjrtu sgur A. langa lng langar lngu lngu lngu mna mn mnar
G. fiska(-nna) steina staa katta landa(-nna) kva mynda(-nna) greina bka nema hjartna sagna G. langra langra langra lngu lngu lngu minna minna minna
D. fiskum steinum stum kttum lndum kvum myndum greinum bkum nemum hjrtum sgum D. lngum lngum lngum lngum lngum lngum mnum mnum mnum
(fiskunum) (lndunum) (myndunum)

verbs (with examples of the reflexive and subjunctive forms for groups 1 and 5) pronouns
group 1 group 2 group 3 group 4 group 5 to be sound-changes 1st 2nd 3rd person

infinitive tla tlast gera skilja ba fara farast vera masc. neuter fem. reflexive
u-mutation: a when followed by u
imp. s. tla(u) ger(u) skil(du) b(u) far(u) ver becomes (when stressed) or u (when N sg. g hann a hn
unstressed). Thus saga saga, but sgur
imp. pl. tli geri skilji bi fari sagas; gamall old (masculine nominative A mig ig hann a hana sig
singular), but gmul old (feminine
pres. part. tlandi gerandi skiljandi bandi farandi verandi G mn n hans ess hennar sn
nominative singular). Sometimes the u
past part. tla tlast gert skili bi fari farist veri has been lost, but its effects remain, as in D mr r honum v henni sr
land land, but lnd lands (< *landu).
indicative subjunc- indicative subj. indic. subj. N pl. vi i eir au r
present tive i-mutation: when followed by an i or j,
active reflexive active refl. A okkur ykkur au r sig
usually now lost, vowels changed thus: a,
o, > e; , > ; , j, j > ; u > y; au G okkar ykkar eirra eirra eirra sn
st
1 sg. tla tlast tli geri skil b fer ferst fari er s > ey.
2nd tlar tlast tlir gerir skilur br fer ferst farir ert srt D okkur ykkur eim eim eim sr

3rd
tlar tlast tli gerir skilur br fer ferst fari er s
1st pl. tlum tlumst tlum gerum skiljum bum frum frumst frum erum sum demonstrative pronouns indefinite pronoun

2nd
tli tlist tli geri skilji bi fari farist fari eru su it/that/those this/these some, something

3rd
tla tlast tli gera skilja ba fara farast fari eru su masc. neut. fem. masc. neuter fem. masc. neuter fem.

past N sg. s a s essi etta essi nokkur nokku/nokkurt nokkur

st
1 sg. tlai tlaist tlai geri skildi bj fr frst fri var vri A ann a ennan etta essa nokkurn nokku/nokkurt nokkra

2nd tlair tlaist tlair gerir skildir bjst frst frst frir varst vrir G ess ess eirrar essa essa essarar nokkurs nokkurs nokkurrar
3rd tlai tlaist tlai geri skildi bj fr frst fri var vri D eim v eirri essum essu essari nokkrum nokkru nokkurri
1st pl. tluum tluumst tluum gerum skildum bjuggum frum frumst frum vorum vrum N pl. eir au r essir essi essar nokkrir nokkur nokkrar
2nd tluu tluust tluu geru skildu bjuggu fru frust fru voru vru A au r essa essi essar nokkra nokkur nokkrar
3rd
tluu tluust tluu geru skildu bjuggu fru frust fru voru vru G eirra eirra eirra essara essara essara nokkurra nokkurra nokkurra
D eim eim eim essum essum essum nokkrum nokkrum nokkrum
glossary: fiskur fish; staur place; kttur cat; steinn stone; land land; kvi poem; mynd picture; grein
article; bk book; bogi bow; hjarta heart; saga story, history; langr long; minn my, mine; tla intend; gera do,
make; skilja understand, divide; ba live, dwell; fara travel, go; vera be.
What is case?
none, no-one
Cases are the different forms that nouns, pronouns and adjectives take in some languages when their grammatical function changes. In English,
nouns dont really have casesbut pronouns do. Take an English sentence, substitute the third person masculine pronoun for a noun phrase, and masculine neuter feminine
youll find yourself automatically changing the case of the pronoun, depending on whether its a subject, object or possessive! N sg. enginn ekkert engin
A engan ekkert enga
case and number 1st person 3rd person function modern English examples Icelandic examples
pronoun pronoun G einskis einskis engrar
D engum engu engri
nominative singular I he the subject I ate a fish. g t fisk.
(the thing that does the verb) lafur ate a fish. lafur t fisk. N pl. engir engin engar
lafur and the cat ate a fish. lafur og ktturinn tu fisk.
A enga engin engar
accusative singular me him the object The fish ate me. Fiskurinn t mig. G engra engra engra
(the thing the verb is done to) lafur ate a fish. lafur t fisk.
lafur ate a fish and the cat. lafur t fisk ok kttinn. D engum engum engum

genitive singular my his a noun/pronoun in the His sword was black. Hans sver var svart.
genitive possesses another He ate the cats fish. Hann t fisk kattarins. numerals
noun The history of the cat was long. Saga kattarins var lng. masculine neuter feminine
dative singular (to, from, (to, from, various things, principally: I gave him a name. g gaf nafn honum. N sg. einn eitt ein
with, by, with, by, indirect objects, words after a He was on the land. Hann var landinu.
etc.) me etc.) him preposition, words taking the Hn er k gulli she is Hn er k gulli. A einn eitt eina
role of a preposition. thatched with gold G eins eins einar
nominative plural we they the subject They ate lafur. eir tu lf. D einum einu einni
(the thing that does the verb) Giants eat people. Jtnar ta menn.
N pl. einir ein einar
accusative plural us them the object The Vikings wounded them. Vkingarnir sru . A eina ein einar
(the thing the verb is done to) The dog ate giants. Hundurinn t jtna.
G einna einna einna
genitive plural our their a noun/pronoun in the My dogs ate their fish. Mnir hundar tu eirra fisk.
(almost always ends genitive possesses another I broke Vikings bones. g braut vkinga bein. D einum einum einum
in -a in Icelandic!) noun The bones of the Vikings broke. Bein vkinga brutu. N pl. tveir tv tvr
dative plural (to, from, (to, from, various things, principally: He gave them names. Hann gaf nfn eim. A tvo tv tvr
(almost always ends with, by, with, by, indirect objects, words after a He lived with giants. Hann bj me jtnum.
G tveggja tveggja tveggja
in -um in Icelandic!) etc.) us etc.) them preposition, words taking the Keyru eir sporum they drove Keyru eir sporum.
role of a preposition. with their spurs. D tveimur tveimur tveimur

N pl. rr rj rjr
What do the terms in the verbs box mean?
A rj rj rjr
Unlike normal verbs, the infinitive doesnt change its form according to person or tense: in I want to run, he wants to run, I wanted to run, the G riggja riggja riggja
main verb want changes, but the infinitive run stays the same. As in that sentence, infinitives always depend on other verbs.
Imperatives are commands like get out! stop! etc. They can be singular (commanding one person) or plural (commanding several). D remur remur remur
Participles are verbs that have been turned into adjectives, and have different forms depending on whether they refer to the present or the N pl. fjrir fjgur fjrar
pastas in the breaking bridge (cf. the bridge breaks, present), the broken bridge (cf. the bridge broke, past). Past participles turn up a lot with
the verb to have/hafa, in constructions like g hef gert brna I have made the bridge, eir hafa skili they have understood. A fjra fjgur fjrar
In Icelandic, indicative verbs are basically ordinary verbs, used when what you say is a simple statement of the truth. Subjunctives are used G fjgurra fjgurra fjgurra
in uncertain or hypothetical situations, in phrases like if I were rich, I would buy Alaric presents and may you shrivel and die.
D fjrum fjrum fjrum

alt-codes to type cool Icelandic characters on a UK keyboard.

fimm (5), sex (6), sj (7), tta (8), nu (9), tu (10),
For the vowels , , , and , you will probably find that if you hold down AltGr and type the vowel, youll get the desired output. ellefu (11), tlf (12), rttn (13), fjrtn (14),
fimmtn (15), sextn (16), sautjn (17), tjn (18),
ntjn (19), tuttugu (20), tuttugu og einn (21), tuttugu
For other letters, or the vowels if that doesnt work, use alt-codes. You can find a list, for example, here: http://code.knopok.net/alt-codes.html. og tveir (22), rjtu (30), fjrutu (40), fimmtu (50),
sextu (60), sjtu (70), ttatu (80), nutu (90), (eitt)
hundra (100), (eitt) sund (1,000), (ein) miljn
(1,000,000).