Persónufornöfnin

Persónufornöfnin are words used in Icelandic to replace nouns that refer to people or things. They function similarly to pronouns in other languages, avoiding repetition and making sentences more fluid. The primary personal pronouns in Icelandic are ég (I), þú (you, singular informal), hann (he), hún (she), það (it), við (we), þið (you, plural informal/singular formal), þeir (they, masculine), þær (they, feminine), and þau (they, neuter).

These pronouns change their form depending on their grammatical case. The four cases in Icelandic are nominative, accusative, dative, and genitive. For example, the pronoun ég (I) becomes mig (me) in the accusative and dative cases, and mín (my) in the genitive case. Similarly, hann (he) changes to hann, honum, and hans depending on the case.

The use of personal pronouns is essential for constructing grammatically correct Icelandic sentences. Understanding their declension across different cases is a fundamental aspect of learning the language. The choice between the informal þú and the formal þið (when used singularly) also reflects social context in Icelandic.