English→Icelandic

Translate English to Icelandic like a local.

Íslenska á Íslandi einkennist af þú-forminu, beinum hversdagssetningum og innlendum orðum á borð við tölvu og síma.

Going the other way? Icelandic to English

474 local dialects

AIRTranslate on iPhone choosing between Icelandic varieties

What locals actually say

I’m just popping to the shop.

Ég skrepp bara út í búð.

Skreppa means to make a quick trip, and út í búð is the everyday Icelandic way to say you are heading to the shop.

Can you give me a lift?

Geturðu skutlað mér?

Skutla means to give someone a lift and is a familiar Icelandic verb used in family and travel talk.

Don’t worry, I’ll sort it out.

Ekki hafa áhyggjur, ég redda þessu.

Redda þessu is the common direct phrase for taking care of a problem, rather than the more formal leysa þetta.

How much do I owe you?

Hvað skulda ég þér?

Skulda means “owe” and takes the person owed in the dative, þér. It is the ordinary direct way to ask about money owed.

How do I get to the swimming pool?

Hvernig kemst ég að sundlauginni?

Komast means “manage to get” somewhere, giving the question a natural Icelandic sense of finding one’s way there. Að sundlauginni uses the dative after að for a destination.

I’m in the mood for lamb soup.

Mig langar í kjötsúpu.

Mig langar í is the impersonal Icelandic construction for “I feel like” or “I want.” Kjötsúpa is the familiar Icelandic lamb soup, a traditional local dish.

The kids are already asleep.

Krakkarnir eru þegar sofnaðir.

Krakkar is the informal everyday word for “kids,” rather than the more neutral börn. Sofnaðir uses the resultative form to signal that they have fallen asleep.

I’m working from home today.

Ég er að vinna heima í dag.

Vera að plus the infinitive, er að vinna, is the Icelandic progressive construction. It signals an activity in progress or a temporary current arrangement.

Notes like these come with every AIRTranslate translation, so you learn why locals phrase it that way as you go.

How Icelandic differs

Icelandic. Þú universal (þérun is archaic); puristic vocabulary preferred over loanwords (tölva, sími); friendly direct register.

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Localization Notes explaining why locals say it that way