Language/Icelandic/Grammar/Gender

Icelandic Grammar - Gender

Hi Icelandic learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will learn about the gender of nouns in Icelandic. We will look at the different genders and how to identify them. We will also look at some examples of each gender and how they are used in sentences. Let's get started!

Genders

In Icelandic, there are three genders: masculine, feminine and neuter. Each noun is assigned one of these genders and it is important to know the gender of a noun in order to use it correctly in a sentence.

Masculine

Masculine nouns are usually words that refer to males or male animals. For example:

Icelandic	Pronunciation	English Translation
maður	maw-thur	man
hundur	hoon-thur	dog
bóndi	bown-thee	farmer

Masculine nouns are usually preceded by the definite article "the" (hinn). For example:

• Hinn maður er frá Íslandi. (The man is from Iceland.)
• Hinn hundur er svartur. (The dog is black.)
• Hinn bóndi er mikill. (The farmer is big.)

Feminine

Feminine nouns are usually words that refer to females or female animals. For example:

Icelandic	Pronunciation	English Translation
kona	koh-nah	woman
köttur	kett-thur	cat
stelpa	stell-pah	girl

Feminine nouns are usually preceded by the definite article "the" (hinn). For example:

• Hin kona er frá Íslandi. (The woman is from Iceland.)
• Hin köttur er svartur. (The cat is black.)
• Hin stelpa er mikil. (The girl is big.)

Neuter

Neuter nouns are usually words that refer to things or abstract concepts. For example:

Icelandic	Pronunciation	English Translation
barn	bahrn	child
hús	hoos	house
vatn	vahtn	water

Neuter nouns are usually preceded by the definite article "the" (hitt). For example:

• Hitt barn er frá Íslandi. (The child is from Iceland.)
• Hitt hús er svart. (The house is black.)
• Hitt vatn er mikið. (The water is big.)

Practice

To improve your Icelandic Grammar, you can also use the Polyglot Club website. Find native speakers and ask them any questions!

Try to identify the gender of the following nouns:

1. bíll (car)
2. kona (woman)
3. hundur (dog)
4. skógur (forest)

Answer:

1. Masculine
2. Feminine
3. Masculine
4. Masculine

Quiz

Test your knowledge of Icelandic gender with this quiz:

Q1: What is the gender of the word "maður"? A1: Masculine

Q2: What is the gender of the word "kona"? A2: Feminine

Q3: What is the gender of the word "skógur"? A3: Masculine

Q4: What is the gender of the word "vatn"? A4: Neuter

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Related Lessons

• Definite Article
• Icelandic Articles
• Plurals
• Prepositions
• Possession
• Negation
• Questions
• Prepostitions
• Conditional Mood