Basic ICELANDIC phrases

How to say the most basic of things in Icelandic. How to greet somebody, say thank you, say your farewells, and apologize. The bare essentials for somebody visiting who wants to score those extra points with the locals and start winning hearts and minds.
Also, an easter egg of a tutorial on how to lose an airpod in the snow ;)
Check out my follow-up with more phrases here: • More ICELANDIC Phrases
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Wanna buy me a cup of coffee? Check out my page on ko-fi: ko-fi.com/ivargu.

[@WheelieMacBin]

I lived and worked in Iceland for five years, but as an English speaker, learning Icelandic was incredibly difficult. Why? Because most Icelanders speak English extremely well and would always switch to English if I tried my Icelandic in shops or banks etc. It is all too easy to be lazy in learning Icelandic. I am sure it is much easier to learn Icelandic for somebody who does not have English as a first language.

[@ivargu]

I think this is likely to be spot on. I have heard time and again from immigrants with strong english skills that it is hard to get us to stick to icelandic for them to learn.

[@Puffin_14]

How were you able to work and live in Iceland?! It is my dream to do so in my life! Any tips? What field/profession did you work in? Thanks for any advice on how to get started!

[@ileniameini7439]

@@ivargu I am native Italian speaker but I can very good German and English. Do you think I could learn your fantastic language?

[@LeViking77]

Everything goes with the efforts and heart you put at learning it. I lived in Sweden for 2 years, and just like many scandinavian countries they speak quite good english and it can be a bit more challenging to learn. Still, I managed to learn and speak Swedish fluently.

[@ivargu]

@@ileniameini7439 Hi Ilenia. I think that if you already speak those three you shouldn't have a big problem getting started with Icelandic :)

[@94HD.heritage.softail]

Hi !!! Ivar gunnarsson tkank you so much for helping everyone visiting iceland some customary phrases & words i was in iceland for the first time in 2023 for airwaves festival this indiana farm boy loved it I'll be back in 2024 god bless Iceland & all its people ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@heartquaked]

My boyfriend is Icelandic and I’m going to impress his mom with this. Thanks :)

[@ivargu]

Awesome. Hope it works ;)

[@syed9576]

very nice of you to try. I'm not Icelandic but bilingual and people trying is the most impressive thing.

[@kristaalalum2502]

period queen

[@TrazorBones]

Were you able to impress her? :D

[@sages101]

MY BOYFRIEND my boyrfriend MY BOYFRIEND my boyfrrriiieeennnndddd

[@geminislorenzo]

I have to say I really like how Icelandic people pronounce the s

[@rasmuskock8077]

This was really helpful. I'm danish and can understand some of Icelandic, but I'm definetely improving. Love your video!

[@ivargu]

Mange tak Rasmus! :) Det gleder mig at høre!

[@kevinjredmond8873]

Tak!

[@Mob-tq7gv]

I’m Norwegian and I can tell some Icelandic it’s harder than my language but I can still understand you.

[@ivargu]

That's awesome. Of course norwegian is our closest language relative, but I still wouldn't have guessed you could understand what was happening. Interesting to know!

[@Blackand]

@@ivargu I'd say faroese is the closest relative to icelandic, good video anyway!

[@climber950]

Thank you so much for this video. I just spent a week in Iceland and many times I was told my phrases sounded so good they thought I was actually Icelandic.

[@ivargu]

That's very nice to hear! Hope you had a good stay altogether.

[@henriklarssen2763]

Thank you very much for covering the phrase I most wanted to know - My hovercraft is full of eels. I will be using it regularly when I hit Iceland next week. What is the Icelandic for "I will not buy this record, it is scratched" and "Drop your panties, Sir Arthur. I cannot wait until lunchtime". I can of course translate this into Hungarian thanks to the Monty Python Sketch

[@ivargu]

:D

[@jessicahakala3017]

Thank you for this video! I finally get to fulfill my dream of visiting Iceland later this year. I know nearly everyone speaks English there, but I love the Icelandic language so much and am excited to be able to use some basic phrases when I'm there.

[@ivargu]

I'm happy to hear that, and hope you'll enjoy your visit :)

[@playgirlc]

i love that BLESS is goodbye. i think i might start using that anyway.

[@davidwholly5209]

I look forward to the day when I can say "my hovercraft is full of eels" like a native.

[@carbonpictures]

I'm writing a story about a guy who left Iceland as a 10-year-old but whenever he gets frustrated he has to repeat and Icelandic saying that expresses this. Thanks

[@pedromoose8860]

This is great! Sehr gut! Vielen Dank!! Takk!!

[@ivargu]

Bitte schön :)

[@jimmyarmenian]

Brilliant video- wonderful, comprehensible format and lovely editing. Thank you for the resource, your video was very much enjoyable!

[@ivargu]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Gambol_25]

Icelandic is a very beautiful language yet it's incredibly difficult to pronounce words in it. Thanks for the video

[@ivargu]

You are more than welcome :)

[@FrozenMermaid666]

Difficult? What do jé mean by that? Icelandic pronunciation is one of the easiest ever, and the Icelandic accent is the easiest to imitate! Now, even the easiest languages are going to feel hard to a beginner, as a beginner doesn’t know the words with their pronunciation and spelling automatically yet, but one should keep revising, until each word can be instantly processed and automatically remembered and automatically pronounced without any difficulty! Icelandic has a category 1 pronunciation, like English / Dutch / Norse / Welsh / Breton / Cornish / Norwegian / Italian / Galician / Latin etc, and Icelandic and Dutch are the easiest to pronounce, after English and Norse which are the absolute easiest ever! By the way, I highly recommend learning all the sounds and all the pronunciation rules very well, and always learning each word with its pronunciation and spelling, which also makes it easier to pronounce the words! Learning each word automatically also makes pronunciation very easy and natural! I will share the pronunciation rules and the most important info re Icelandic and Norse, and I highly recommend learning each pronunciation rule automatically!

[@FrozenMermaid666]

Some sentences in Icelandic / Norse / Dutch that I tend to revise a lot and analyze in detail... Ég hef talað Ensku síðan þegar ég vas (var) tveggja eða triggja ára! En ég get líka talað Hollensku og Norsku og Spænsku og FornNorrænu! Ég get talað Íslensku reiprennandi og ég em (er) ekki með neina hreim! Ef ég gæti lært annað mál, hvað væri það? Það væri auðvitað Danska! Ég em (er) að hugsa að það er mikilvægt að læra að minnsta kosti eitt erlent tungumál, eða flest fallegu tungumálin! Svo ég valdi Íslensku og ég héld áfram að læra hana... Ég læri það í samhengi... Hvíslaðu að svaninum! En ertu frá hinum hlutanum? Ísland er ekki eitt sjálfstætt land ennþá! Þegar ég segi Ísland, hvað er það fyrsta sem dettur þér í (hug) hugi? Ek heiti Freyja ok ek em at læra Norrænu því ek elski (elska) hana! Als ik Ijsland zeg, wat is het eerste wat naar boven komt bij jou? (The words in these languages are just so pretty, they are áddìctive, and so poetic, I definitely wish I had learnt them in childhood!)

[@FrozenMermaid666]

I highly recommend learning all the Icelandic words from all the vocab videos, including the Go Learn vocab videos with hundreds and thousands of Icelandic words, and all the lyrics from Skáld songs and from all sorts of Icelandic folk songs and other Icelandic lyrics, and I highly recommend always watching every single video and movie with Icelandic subs, and regularly rewatching and revising each vocab video and word, many times, over a longer period of time, and watching everything with subs in Icelandic and Dutch and Norwegian for a few years! I highly recommend learning Icelandic 2gether with the other prettiest languages ever Norse / Dutch / English / Norwegian / Gothic / Faroese / Danish and also Welsh / Breton / Cornish, as they are way too pretty not to know - to improve speaking and sentence forming, I highly recommend learning all the prepositions / conjunctions / adverbs / verbs / pronouns etc and the most used nouns and adjectives, and analyzing different sentences and different grammatical constructions every day or regularly, and revising them regularly, and maybe even pronouncing them a few times per session, first slowly and then faster and faster, as doing this a lot over a longer period of will help one reach fluency in speaking! I highly recommend listening to all the Skáld songs and memorizing all the lyrics, including the songs Óðínn and Flúga and Rún and NorðrLjós and Gleipnir and LjósÁlfr and Grótti and SólarLjóð and Hross and Troll Kalla Mik and SæKonungar and Ríðum Ríðum and ElverHøy and Níu and ValFreyjuDrápa and Rauðr Loginn Brann and Fimbulvetr and Villeman Og Magnhild and Hinn Mikli Dreki and Då Månen Sken etc, as they are the best introduction to Norse / Germanic / Nordic languages, and they all have super epic and beautiful melodies as well as pretty vocals, and they perfectly fit these heavenly languages, and are very áddìctive like the Norse languages!

[@FrozenMermaid666]

Here are some of the most important sounds + pronunciation rules in Icelandic, as Icelandic has one of the easiest / prettiest / coolest pronunciations ever, having a category 1 pronunciation with super cool modern sounds! - the eth letter ð is an approximant of the letter D (a less obvious D similar to the D in the Spanish word nada and like the TH in the English words this and that) and the thorn letter þ is an approximant of T (a less obvious T that’s sort of lisped, and it is the same sound as the TH in the English words think and thing, though it sounds closer to a normal T sound in Icelandic) More pronunciation rules and sounds in Icelandic... - the HV is pronounced KV - the NN is pronounced as a TN if it comes after Æ and after EI / EY and after a long vowel such as Á / É / Í / Ó / Ú (but it is a normal N sound if it comes after the short vowels A / E / I / O / U and in inn word combinations, and I recommend adding a very soft breathy H sound to the ‘inn’ word ending in masculine words to make it a bit different from the word ending ‘in’ which is the feminine word ending, like I do, as I pronounce the inn more like ihn in masculine nouns and masculine adjectives that have the inn word ending, which represents the definite article in nouns, tho there are also three articles that aren’t added to the noun, namely hinn and hin and hið, so, one can say hinn stormur or stormurinn and hinn storm or storminn as both mean the storm in nominative and accusative) - the LL is usually pronounced TL in most words and if the LL is at the end of the word it sounds more like a weak T sound - the RN is pronounced with an extra soft ‘nasal’ T sound between the R and the N (so a word like þarna sounds like thartna) - the FL / FN letter combinations are pronounced PL / PN (so F becomes a P sound if it’s before an L or an N) - the G is ultra soft in short words like ég and mig etc, so it is pronounced more like an H sound (so ég sounds like yeh) and the G in the middle of the words is kinda soft (in words like segja / saga / segir etc it is a soft G that is still a G sound and not an H) and the Gs and GGs can also sound like Ks in many of the words if they are at the end of the word or even in the middle of the word and sometimes even at the beginning of the word (same as in Old Norse) tho Gs are usually pronounced like a normal G sound if they are at the beginning of the word (except for a few words) - the KK / TT etc is pronounced more like HK / HT as a soft breathy H sound is included before the K / T sound when there is a double consonant and even when there are two different consonants (for example, ekki sounds like ehki and óútreiknanlegt sounds like outreihnanleht etc) - the letter F is usually pronounced like a V if it’s in the middle of the word or at the end of the word (so leyfa sounds like leyva) and it is pronounced like a normal F sound if it’s at the beginning of the word or very close to the beginning of the word (for example, if a words starts with af, the af is pronounced af, not av) The diphthongs and umlauts and vowels in Icelandic... - AU is pronounced EOI (normal e sound + normal o sound + normal i sound said 2gether fast in one sound) - EI / EY are pronounced EI / EY (same as they are spellt) - the Æ / æ is usually pronounced ai in most Icelandic words (but hvenær seems to be pronounced kvenar and not really kvenair, so it depends on the word) - Ö is an EO sound (normal e sound + normal o sound said 2gether in one sound, like the œ in the French word cœur) - Ó is usually pronounced OU - O is usually pronounced UO and sometimes as an O sound (depending on the word) - Ú is a normal u sound - U is a more rounded YU sound (like the u in the French word mur and it is also the same sound as the Ü in Hungarian and German and the same sound as the UU in Dutch in words like muur and duur) tho in some words it is pronounced like a normal U sound (especially at the beginning of the word in words like ungur, and when there are multiple Us in the same word it’s usually the last U that is pronounced like YU and most other Us are pronounced like a normal U sound in that kind of words) - Á is an AU sound in almost every word (there are only a few exceptions) - A is a normal a sound and the A before NG / NK is pronounced like an AU sound just like the Á (so að ganga sounds like ath gaunga and it means to walk) - É is an YE sound (normal i sound + normal e sound) - E is a normal e sound (full e sound) - Í / Ý is a normal i sound - I / Y is a half i sound (this sound is very similar to how the i is pronounced in most English words like fit and chips and this, so it’s sort of like a weak i that goes more towards an e sound, but it isn’t a full e sound, and it isn’t a full i sound either, so it’s right between an i sound and an e sound)

[@mustachesally4134]

Been trying to learn for 2 years. Married to one. I know two other languages. Icelandic is the hardest language to learn. I know basic Icelandic greetings , items, numbers. But when it comes to talk about why winds moved the other way, it's over.

[@seanmoldowan4417]

Thank you, very helpful! Cheers

[@MaryannDarkandCie]

Takk! Going on a trip soon, and it's important to me to at least make an effort. I truly appreciate your help! (And may your airpod rest in peace)

[@John_Krone]

Oh man, I just came back from Iceland and this was the video I should had listened. Of well, for my next trip there. Takk Fyrir

[@ivargu]

Thanks John. Hope you had a good visit though :)

[@kadejohnson7866]

I’ve been learning Icelandic for just under a year now and I love it. Started it to impress a girl but now I’m just doing it for me. It’s so hard to find places to learn it where I am but I’ve found an app that has helped me greatly. Although it is tough and I am still learning the easy phrases I’m still loving it and I’d love to go and visit Iceland in the future. Takk

[@connorborgfjord8257]

Which app

[@iesroo]

I was out today in short sleeves and it was 4 degrees with a -1 windchill 😀

[@gnarlycat]

I’m now prepared if my hovercraft gets filled with eels.

[@iesroo]

Thanks for the video 😊

[@jonkirk2118]

Fascinating. Many thanks. I imagine that our English word "ta" for thanks is based on "takk".

[@volvomania1980]

Can u make more videos,teaching icelandic,please?

[@ivargu]

Sure, any particular language topics you would like to see me get into?

[@volvomania1980]

Hey,thanks for reply..maybe something about shopping,take transport,like a bus,stuff no one teach you,but 100% you are going to use,in daily life,takk

[@hyohun9231]

Thank you. I love your videos so much.

[@paramotor.training]

I have until June 2024 to learn as much as I can :-) Takk. 🙂

[@jf5504]

Tusen takk!

[@Urspo]

Takk 😊

[@yevhen2128]

Thank you for this video!

[@ivargu]

Sure thing. Thanks for stopping by!

[@vickygarnett7623]

I too try to learn the basics if I go to a new country. It’s how I started learning Norwegian. But that was also because I wanted to be able to tell if a sign on a door said ‘push’ or ‘pull’!

[@ivargu]

Hehe, the Push/pull concept is of course a perfect case of safeguarding yourself against looking confused :) In Icelandig push is "ýta/ýtið", and pull is "toga/togið"

[@VegasPixieMom]

Question: I've been working through the Icelandic Online 'survival' course and they use "góðan daginn" - which is (or more commonly used)? Góðan daginn or góðan dag?

[@ivargu]

Hi Kim. I think that in everyday use they are about equal in terms of commonality, and you'll often see "Góðan daginn" shortened to simply "daginn".

[@michaelmisi]

Takk very much !

[@ivargu]

Takk sömuleiðis :)

[@AbbotsDan]

Thanks, really useful and clear. I am hoping to take my wife and kids to Iceland next year (COVID-19 permitting!) and always try to make an effort with the basics (trying to give a better impression of the English 😂)

[@AbbotsDan]

I should’ve said Takk!!

[@ivargu]

Thanks! Really appreciate the comment. And hopefully you will be able to make it next year. I can guarantee that you'll score extra points with just a tiny effort to try these basic words. :)

[@JaceVaofficial]

not gonna lie id love to see where this goes

[@juliekerker4335]

Takk Ivar!!

[@ivargu]

Alveg sjálfsagt Julie! :)

[@sarahdiane24]

Takk!!!!🥰

[@ivargu]

Alveg sjálfsagt :)

[@Voryn]

So I'm trying to learn Icelandic right now and my app translates 'Good Day' into 'Góðan daginn' and 'Good Evening' into 'Góða kvöldið'. Is there any difference to 'Góðan dag' and 'Gott kvöld'? By the way great video, it helped a lot, especially with the pronounciation 😅

[@ivargu]

Hi J28. Fantastic question. Your app is not wrong :) Both "góðan daginn" and "góða kvöldið" are common forms in everyday Icelandic. That being said, they are modern "mutations" and strictly speaking don't make a lot of sense grammatically. Literally speaking they are the definite article versions of greetings, so they mean "the good day" and "the good evening". Both will be understood and accepted equally, and I'd wager that most people here will not even realize that the definite article versions "...daginn, kvöldið" are less correct from a grammatical perspective.

[@Voryn]

Allright, thanks a lot!

[@ginnyvibes]

@@ivargu I love this level of grammatical explanation, takk fyrir!

[@thetrueoneandonlyladyprinc8038]

I highly recommend learning all the Icelandic words from all the vocab videos, including the Go Learn vocab videos with hundreds and thousands of Icelandic words, and all the lyrics from Skáld songs and from all sorts of Icelandic folk songs and other Icelandic lyrics, and I highly recommend always watching every single video and movie with Icelandic subs, and regularly rewatching and revising each vocab video and word, many times, over a longer period of time, and watching everything with subs in Icelandic and Dutch and Norwegian for a few years! I highly recommend learning Icelandic 2gether with the other prettiest languages ever Norse / Dutch / English / Norwegian / Gothic / Faroese / Danish and also Welsh / Breton / Cornish, as they are way too pretty not to know - to improve speaking and sentence forming, I highly recommend learning all the prepositions / conjunctions / adverbs / verbs / pronouns etc and the most used nouns and adjectives, and analyzing different sentences and different grammatical constructions every day or regularly, and revising them regularly, and maybe even pronouncing them a few times per session, first slowly and then faster and faster, as doing this a lot over a longer period of will help one reach fluency in speaking! I highly recommend listening to all the Skáld songs and memorizing all the lyrics, including the songs Óðínn and Flúga and Rún and NorðrLjós and Gleipnir and LjósÁlfr and Grótti and SólarLjóð and Hross and Troll Kalla Mik and SæKonungar and Ríðum Ríðum and ElverHøy and Níu and ValFreyjuDrápa and Rauðr Loginn Brann and Fimbulvetr and Villeman Og Magnhild and Hinn Mikli Dreki and Då Månen Sken etc, as they are the best introduction to Norse / Germanic / Nordic languages, and they all have super epic and beautiful melodies as well as pretty vocals, and they perfectly fit these heavenly languages, and are very áddìctive like the Norse languages!

[@thetrueoneandonlyladyprinc8038]

Here are some of the most important sounds + pronunciation rules in Icelandic, as Icelandic has one of the easiest / prettiest / coolest pronunciations ever, having a category 1 pronunciation with super cool modern sounds! - the eth letter ð is an approximant of the letter D (a less obvious D similar to the D in the Spanish word nada and like the TH in the English words this and that) and the thorn letter þ is an approximant of T (a less obvious T that’s sort of lisped, and it is the same sound as the TH in the English words think and thing, though it sounds closer to a normal T sound in Icelandic) More pronunciation rules and sounds in Icelandic... - the HV is pronounced KV - the NN is pronounced as a TN if it comes after Æ and after EI / EY and after a long vowel such as Á / É / Í / Ó / Ú (but it is a normal N sound if it comes after the short vowels A / E / I / O / U and in inn word combinations, and I recommend adding a very soft breathy H sound to the ‘inn’ word ending in masculine words to make it a bit different from the word ending ‘in’ which is the feminine word ending, like I do, as I pronounce the inn more like ihn in masculine nouns and masculine adjectives that have the inn word ending, which represents the definite article in nouns, tho there are also three articles that aren’t added to the noun, namely hinn and hin and hið, so, one can say hinn stormur or stormurinn and hinn storm or storminn as both mean the storm in nominative and accusative) - the LL is usually pronounced TL in most words and if the LL is at the end of the word it sounds more like a weak T sound - the RN is pronounced with an extra soft ‘nasal’ T sound between the R and the N (so a word like þarna sounds like thartna) - the FL / FN letter combinations are pronounced PL / PN (so F becomes a P sound if it’s before an L or an N) - the G is ultra soft in short words like ég and mig etc, so it is pronounced more like an H sound (so ég sounds like yeh) and the G in the middle of the words is kinda soft (in words like segja / saga / segir etc it is a soft G that is still a G sound and not an H) and the Gs and GGs can also sound like Ks in many of the words if they are at the end of the word or even in the middle of the word and sometimes even at the beginning of the word (same as in Old Norse) tho Gs are usually pronounced like a normal G sound if they are at the beginning of the word (except for a few words) - the KK / TT etc is pronounced more like HK / HT as a soft breathy H sound is included before the K / T sound when there is a double consonant and even when there are two different consonants (for example, ekki sounds like ehki and óútreiknanlegt sounds like outreihnanleht etc) - the letter F is usually pronounced like a V if it’s in the middle of the word or at the end of the word (so leyfa sounds like leyva) and it is pronounced like a normal F sound if it’s at the beginning of the word or very close to the beginning of the word (for example, if a words starts with af, the af is pronounced af, not av) The diphthongs and umlauts and vowels in Icelandic... - AU is pronounced EOI (normal e sound + normal o sound + normal i sound said 2gether fast in one sound) - EI / EY are pronounced EI / EY (same as they are spellt) - the Æ / æ is usually pronounced ai in most Icelandic words (but hvenær seems to be pronounced kvenar and not really kvenair, so it depends on the word) - Ö is an EO sound (normal e sound + normal o sound said 2gether in one sound, like the œ in the French word cœur) - Ó is usually pronounced OU - O is usually pronounced UO and sometimes as an O sound (depending on the word) - Ú is a normal u sound - U is a more rounded YU sound (like the u in the French word mur and it is also the same sound as the Ü in Hungarian and German and the same sound as the UU in Dutch in words like muur and duur) tho in some words it is pronounced like a normal U sound (especially at the beginning of the word in words like ungur, and when there are multiple Us in the same word it’s usually the last U that is pronounced like YU and most other Us are pronounced like a normal U sound in that kind of words) - Á is an AU sound in almost every word (there are only a few exceptions) - A is a normal a sound and the A before NG / NK is pronounced like an AU sound just like the Á (so að ganga sounds like ath gaunga and it means to walk) - É is an YE sound (normal i sound + normal e sound) - E is a normal e sound (full e sound) - Í / Ý is a normal i sound - I / Y is a half i sound (this sound is very similar to how the i is pronounced in most English words like fit and chips and this, so it’s sort of like a weak i that goes more towards an e sound, but it isn’t a full e sound, and it isn’t a full i sound either, so it’s right between an i sound and an e sound)

[@KazehareRaiden]

I love the icelandic language I am currently learning icelandic with the drops app I know how to count to hundrað while starting at 0 I forget the spelling Edit: Ég am going to move to Ísland when ég am out of high school and either go to einn of there colleges eða ég am going to do the long process of becoming a citizen P.S: Ég am using íslanska words to practice using them and to remember the spelling though ég is easy to remember

[@ivargu]

Vel gert og gangi þér vel!

[@theintp1732]

Komdu sæll og blessaður, Ívar! Ég eingöngu tala reiprennandi ensku, en að vissu marki, ég get líka talað sænsku, dönsku, norsku, smá litháísku, pólsku, íslensku, og mjög smá þýsku og rússnesku.

[@ivargu]

Vá! Það er ekkert lítið sem þú talar af tungumálum!

[@cellobanda]

Thanks a lot for your video, and the lesson! Is it really cold -5 degrees Celcium?) Usually, in the beginning of January even in a central part of Russia is about -10-15 degrees. I thought in Iceland would be much colder ☺️ 🇮🇸

[@ivargu]

Yeah, it's one of the misconceptions about Iceland. Having a coastal climate, and being warmed by the gulf stream makes this place warmer than expected. So we can definitely not compete with inland areas of Russia or Canada, for instance. :)

[@cellobanda]

@@ivargu I see, thanks for this explanation!)

[@BodomBeachKiller]

Takk for the video! :)

[@ivargu]

Sjálfsagt! :)

[@axbakrb]

Hallo is hello Goodbye is bless. All I know lol

[@ivargu]

You're well on your way then ;)

[@thkonstantofbeing1887]

Takk! Greetings from Russia :)

[@ivargu]

спасибо!

[@94HD.heritage.softail]

Also ivar i hope Iceland can hold on to there native language & not let it be lost like alot of native American Indian language is lost to the yonger ones personally i think Icelandic language is so beautiful & all there own derived i think i dont realy know from the norse & vikings god bless you Iceland please keep your precious language some how by!! & god bless

[@drillbitz2816]

I thlammed my Iceland in the car door

[@ivargu]

Hate it when that happens...

[@phaelin]

Cold at minus 5 lol..

[@ivargu]

Indeed... it's one of the misconceptions that it's all that cold in Iceland (comparatively). So rather than truly cold (like i.e. Canada or Finland), it's more that we never get really warm here ;)

[@Artemis3456]

takk! í was just wondering something because i looked is up and it says hæ can also be used as a greeting, just wondering if this is true

[@ivargu]

Thanks, and good question. You definitely can, as it is probably the most common greeting to be heard in Iceland. It however, isn't strictly speaking Icelandic. It is an adoption of the english word "hi", with a phonetic respelling for Icelandic ears :)

[@brightonluke3280]

Did you ever find your AirPod?

[@ivargu]

Yeah, after it had been crushed by a car :)

[@brightonluke3280]

@@ivargu oh no!

[@NathanEDavis]

Did you recover your airpod?

[@ivargu]

Yeah, although it had meanwhile had a close encounter with a car tire ;)

[@NathanEDavis]

@@ivargu aww, I got a glimpse of it in the video but didn't know how close the tire of the car was.

[@swissm8]

i visit iceland in october.. lets see if i dare to try it out:D

[@ivargu]

You'll earn brownie points for sure! :) Hope you'll have a good visit!

[@chrispeters5780]

Do you want to come back to my place? Bouncy bouncy.

[@ivargu]

Translates roughly to: "Viltu koma og prófa hoppukastalann minn?"

[@DCLeadboot]

This is very interesting and helpful! I'm trying to research Icelandic words and dialect for the sake of a character I'm creating. He's a stoic ice dragon named Jökull who (for convenience of storytelling) can speak English, but with a broad accent and the odd phrase thrown in (e.g. I read "jæja" gets used frequently in a variety of contexts)

[@wAsD.....]

I still don't understand in which cases we can use "góðan daginn" or goðan daggur" í mean how do we know when we use each suffix

[@ivargu]

Sorry about the late reply Victor. "Góðan daginn", and "Góðan dag" are completely interchangeable in terms of when to use. Main thing is that, although more excepted in common culture, the prior ("Góðan daginn") is actually grammatically incorrect. The saying literally means "Good day". If you look at the noun for day, "dag" in this case is the indirect article ("A good day") while "daginn" is the definite article ("The good day") which obviously makes no sense directly. That form though has crept into common usage for this term, and nobody here pays much attention to what it actually means.

[@tarik6990]

What about Saell as a greeting?

[@ivargu]

Absolutely works as well. Just needs more care in application as it is based on the gender of the recipient "Sæll" being the masculine form, "Sæl", and "Sælt" being the feminine, and neutral versions. It can be used specifically as a greeting by prefixing it with "Komdu", or as a farewell by "Vertu"

[@tarik6990]

@@ivargu I just know the greeting is prominently featured in Ófærð but otherwise I have barely heard it.

[@flameofmage1099]

My hovercraft is full of eels. We aren't Klingon.

[@ivargu]

What!? We aren't!? ;)

[@sherekhan90]

All I learnt from this video was English.

[@ivargu]

Well, at least there was some takeaway :-D

[@musicandwhales]

takk fyrir 😊

[@ivargu]

Sjálfsagt :)

[@musicandwhales]

@@ivargu 🌹❤️🙂

[@quasiportal6138]

Hope you managed to locate your airpod!

[@ivargu]

Yeah... at least the majority of it's constituent parts ;)

[@Myriadmusics]

wait a minute. i have an eel. i might need to know about this sentence...

[@ivargu]

:)

[@tupacmcshakur2589]

👍

[@daveyboygee]

As an American who grew up in Wisconsin, I would compare your "thank you" TAKK to when we describe the sound of a clock: tic-toc ... the word takk in Icelandic being the same sound as the TOC in tic-toc. Just some north american insight here! Great video!

[@ivargu]

Thanks David! It's a fascinating thing how differently attuned we are to different sounds, based on our language and even dialects. I appreciate it!

[@quranreader7616]

😇😇😇😇

[@williamgustavk2184]

1:33 Gott kvöld or Góða kvöldið

[@ivargu]

Indeed either, although as with "Góðan dag / Góðan daginn" I tend to lean towards the first ones, that don't have the definite article, being more grammatically correct.

[@tweetydiditforeal]

Sorry if I'm wrong, but I have read that Iceland doesn't have a word for please. Like there's no specific word for please, is that wrong?

[@ivargu]

Oh, fantastic question and an interesting point. In the specific sense you are correct. There is no single word that directly translates. In some cases we would use our word "Takk" for "thanks" to kind of transcribe the same meaning (Somebody asks if they can bring me something, and rather than saying "yes please", I'd say "yes, thank you"). In other cases it comes down to verb usage (maybe relatable to german speakers?) in that we tend to phrase our sentences like "can you get me a drink", rather than "I'd like a drink please". In that case they are direct, but still show respect and appreciation. Tone and facial expressions/body language also play a part in achieving the same, with Icelandic society being a very informal one :) Great question, thanks for asking!

[@tweetydiditforeal]

@@ivargu Thank you so much for clarifying! And thnx for replying!

[@rodaki9408]

Same with swedish

[@satyuga7322]

Are you Ivar the Boneless?

[@ivargu]

Completely spineless :)

[@satyuga7322]

@@ivargu Ahaha. I like your videos man, even if I can't understand what you're talking about in your videos (because I don't know Icelandic) you give me a happy and good vibe. Keep up the work, I also like your video edits, they look really professional. :)

[@ivargu]

@@satyuga7322 thanks man! I really appreciate hearing that! I am working on adding more subtitles to my videos, and who knows if I'll do more in english in the future.

[@lsmith9381]

takk....sjáumst á íslandi

[@ivargu]

Góða ferð :)

[@carbonpictures]

What is the Icelandic expression equivalent to the English you got to be kidding me! Or is this a joke?

[@ivargu]

"Ertu að grínast?" means literally that (are you joking), and is a common phrase used the same way.

[@carbonpictures]

@@ivargu thanks! Now I just need to figure out how to say it 😂

[@ivargu]

@@carbonpictures here you go : bit.ly/3rEYxQl :)

[@carbonpictures]

@@ivargu Thanks! got it now. from the recording I would pronounce it to my ears as "Ethf-ahh-greenist"

[@iesroo]

íslenskur íslensku íslandi ísland are all the words i know that are related to iceland 😁

[@natedurkee8092]

And here’s how you lose an airpod in the snow 😂 that’s a bummer

[@ivargu]

It was an absolute bummer ;)

[@moving3999]

Hæ! Hvað heitir þú?

[@ivargu]

Ég heiti Ívar :)

[@moving3999]

Ívar Gunnarsson hæ Ívar! Ég heiti John. Bless!

[@moving3999]

Ívar Gunnarsson ég er eenþá að læra íslensku

[@ivargu]

@@moving3999 Mér sýnist þér vera að ganga vel!

[@MrsTulinius]

Putar

[@DigOnThis_]

God of war brought me hear 👊

[@kalel311superman9]

and i thought german was hard

[@ivargu]

There are actually some similarities, both being germanic languages and both sharing some similarities in grammatical concepts.

[@kalel311superman9]

@@ivargu and i am taking German lessons

[@williamgustavk2184]

those dislikes come from glasgow? xD

[@ivargu]

Now I'm curious... why Glasgow? :D

[@bhd201]

Takk!