fjórir

Fjórir is the Icelandic masculine plural form of the cardinal number four. In Icelandic, numerals function like adjectives and agree with the gender of the noun they modify. The primary forms for four are fjórir for masculine nouns, fjórar for feminine nouns, and fjögur for neuter nouns, with other case forms used in inflected contexts. For example, fjórir menn means four men, fjórar konur means four women, and fjögur hús means four houses.

The word derives from Old Norse fjórir and is part of a shared Germanic linguistic heritage, with cognates in neighboring Scandinavian languages such as Norwegian fire and Swedish fyra, though each language has its own pronunciation and minor form variations. The Icelandic form fjórir reflects the same basic numeral across this language family.

In usage, fjórir appears in counting, dates, and measurements where a noun is accompanied by a number, as in fjórir dagar (four days). Like other numerals in Icelandic, it must be declined to match the gender and case of the noun it accompanies. Overall, fjórir functions as a standard cardinal numeral within Icelandic grammar, one of the basic building blocks of numbers in the language.