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14 Phrases to Know When Visiting Iceland

Iceland
Iceland | © Helga Birna Jónasdóttir/Flickr

Icelandic is a notoriously difficult language to grasp with all of the strange letters like þ, ð, æ, and ö lurking around. While very rare to find an Icelander under the age of 50 who does not speak fluent English, it is still helpful to at least try to know a few phrases to show some effort when visiting Iceland.

Afsakið

Pronounced: av-sah-kith

Bless

Pronounced: blehss

Ég tala ekki Íslensku

Pronounced: yeh tah-la ekkee ees-len-skew

Góðan daginn

Pronounced: goh-than dai-yen

Ég er grænmetisæta

Pronounced: yeh err grine-met-ees- aiytah

Hjálp, ég er týndur!

Pronounced: hyowlp yeh err teen-dur

Hvað kostar þetta?

Pronounced: hvahth kost-ar thet-ta

Hvar er klósett?

Pronounced: kvar err klow-set

Hvað segirðu?

Literal translation: What do you say?

Pronounced: kvahth say-yer-thoo

Já / Nei

Pronounced: yow / nay

Hvað er klukkan?

Pronounced: kvahth err klook-kahn

Get ég fengið matseðill?

Pronounced: geht yeh fehng-ith maht-seh-thitl

Takk

Pronounced: Tahkk

Verðu þér að góðu

Literal translation: May it serve you well.

Pronounced: vehr-thu thyair ahth goh-thu

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