Introduction to Conjugation
The first kind of inflection that you are going to learn is conjugation. Conjugation is the inflection of verbs, and it is a kind of inflection that is present in both English and Icelandic.
How Do Icelandic Verbs Inflect?
In English, verbs are conjugated depending on who the subject (the doer of the verb) is and when the action happened. If the subject is he, she, or it, then the verb adds an -s.
Example 1: I speak.
Example 2: He speaks.
Example 3: I bake.
Example 4: She bakes.
Icelandic does a pretty similar thing. When the subject of the verb is hann, hun, or það, then the verb is usually going to add an -r.
Example 1: Ég tala.
Example 2: Hann talar.
Example 3: Ég baka.
Example 4: Hann bakar.
While verbs can change depending on their person, they can also change depending on when they occur; this is known as tense. In English, when something happens in the past instead of the present, the verb usually adds -ed no matter who the speaker is.
Example 1: I talk.
Example 2: I talked.
Example 3: She bakes.
Example 4: She baked.
Icelandic does a pretty similar thing again. When the action of the verb takes place in the past, Icelandic usually adds an ending.
Example 1: Ég tala.
Example 2: Ég talaði.
Example 3: Það bakar.
Example 4: Það bakaði.
As mentioned in the previous lesson, Icelandic verbs conjugate more and more complexly than English ones. Below, see a table comparing inflection in English and Icelandic for the same verb. At this point, do not worry about trying to memorize the chart. Your only job is to notice how the patterns in Icelandic are more complex than in English and then answer the questions thereafter.
| English Present | Icelandic Present | English Past | Icelandic Past | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I / Ég | bake | baka | baked | bakaði |
| You / Þú | bake | bakar | baked | bakaðir |
| He* / Hann* | bakes | bakar | baked | bakaði |
| We / Við | bake | bökum** | baked | bökuðum** |
| Y'all / Þið | bake | bakið | baked | bökuðuð** |
| They / Þeir* | bake | baka | baked | bökuðu** |
*These subjects are hiding other versions depending on gender. You will learn more about these subjects in the lesson "conjugation charts". **These words are experiencing umlaut. You will learn more about umlaut in a later lesson.
Using the chart above, translate the following into Icelandic:
- He bakes.
- We baked.
- I bake.
- I baked.
- Y'all baked.
Now I Know:
- the Icelandic words for I, you, he, she, it, *we, y'all, and they
- Icelandic verbs conjugate
- Icelandic conjugation depends on subject and tense