Gray Line Iceland - Icelandic Phrases You Should Learn

Posted by Admin on 27 Feb 2017

An Intro to Icelandic words and phrases

If you are planning to visit Iceland this year, then congratulations – you have made the right choice! You are in for a wonderful time. To make your visit to Iceland even better, we’ve put together a guide to the top ten best Icelandic phrases you should learn before you come.

Alternatively, you could just use them in the office, at home or in the pub just to show how clever and cultured you are. You’re welcome!

1.     Let’s start with the basics like – Hello. My name is…

In Icelandic this is Halló. (Ha-low).  Ég heiti ______ . (Yeh hey-ti _____ .)

puffins-birds-in-iceland

#GrayLineIceland #FindAReasonToGo #Halló

2.     Arguably the most important phrase to learn for every new location you visit is: ‘Where is the bathroom?’

In Iceland, we say: Hvar er klósettið? (Kvar er klow-seht-ith?)

3.     Probably the next most important phrase to learn, particularly for the geographically challenged amongst us is: ‘Help. I am lost.’

In Icelandic, this is: Hjálp ég er villtur (Halp yeh her willter).

landmannalaugar-mountains-iceland

 #GrayLineIceland #FindAReasonToGo #DontGetLost #IcelandicNature

4.     Alternatively, if you are not lost but want to know where something is, then you need to say:

Hvar er _____? (Kvar er _____?)

Hvar er strætóstopp? (...strigh-toh-sto-hp?) Which is ‘where is the bus stop?’

5.     If you want to check how much something costs, by asking ‘how much is this’, then we say:

Hvað kostar það? (Kvadh kos-tar thadh?)

6.     Hungry? If you are in a restaurant and want to ask for a table for one/two, then use this:

Get ég fengið borð fyrir einn/tvo. 

icelandic-traditional-food

 #GrayLineIceland #FindAReasonToGo  #IcelandicCuisine

7.     Of utmost importance is the ability to charm the bar staff when asking for a beer. So, to say, ‘One beer, thanks’, it is:

Einn bjór, takk. 

icelandic-bars

GrayLineIceland #FindAReasonToGo #IcelandicPub #ILoveIceland

8.     Just like anywhere else, Icelanders appreciate manners as much as they appreciate the effort to learn our language. So, for pleasing and thank you, you need to say:

Gjörðu svo vel (sg) or Gerið þið svo vel (pl) to say ‘please’. Thank you is: Takk.

 9.     Your get out of jail card is obviously going to be: I can’t speak Icelandic. Do you speak English?

And for that, you should say: Ég tala ekki íslensku. Talarðu ensku? (Yeh ta-la eh-ki ees-len-skuh. Ta-lar-thu en-sku?).

10.     Finally, we are pretty sure you will want to say this one:

Ég elska Ísland, which is ‘I love Iceland!’

icelandic-national-flag

#GrayLineIceland #FindAReasonToGo #WhaleSafariIceland #ILoveIceland

How Gray Line Iceland can help you explore Iceland:

If you are planning to visit Iceland, then talk to us – our passion is helping you discover our country. We offer Icelandic tours, vacation packages as well as travel arrangements to and from the airport and your accommodation.  Check us out the tours we are currently opporating at grayline.is or find out what our previous guests think about us over at our TripAdvisor or Facebook pages.

We can even teach you some more Icelandic phrases as you travel – as our recent guest Lisa experienced on our Gray Line Golden Circle tour:

Our tour host for golden circle, Dee Dee, was amazing! She was extremely funny as well but I am a big fan of sarcasm so it suited my humor. She knew lots of history and taught us various things about Iceland and the language. We didn't feel rushed at all and were given ample time at all the areas we stopped at. Overall the tour is well worth the money! I hope you get Dee Dee, you're in for a treat if you do :)”

You can read the full review on our TripAdvisor page.

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