Greiningin: the tests behind Icelandic word classes
Greiningin means "the analysis". A sentence appears and you tap the word being asked for. Fifteen levels, each teaching one test you can actually run in your head.
Word class is a test, not a label
The usual way to learn parts of speech is to memorise definitions and then label words in a workbook. It rarely sticks, because a word does not carry its class around with it. It has a class only inside a sentence: gangan var löng has a noun where við göngum heim has a verb, and the stem is the same in both. What transfers is not the label but the probe, and each level here teaches one.
| Class | The test |
|---|---|
| Noun | It takes the suffixed article and can be counted: bíll → bíllinn, einn bíll, tveir bílar. |
| Verb | It takes the infinitive marker að and changes with tense: að hlaupa, ég hleyp, ég hljóp. |
| Adjective | It compares: stór, stærri, stærstur, and it agrees with its noun. |
| Pronoun | A noun can be put in its place: hann kom → Jón kom. |
| Numeral | It counts (einn, tveir) or orders (fyrsti, annar). |
| Adverb | It does not inflect at all, and it answers how, where or when. |
| Preposition | It governs the case of what follows: um daginn, frá deginum. |
| Conjunction | It joins words or clauses: og, en, að, þegar, sem. |
The thing English speakers trip on
Icelandic has no word for "the". The definite article is a suffix: bíll becomes bíllinn, bók becomes bókin, hús becomes húsið. That is why one level asks which word carries the article rather than asking you to point at it. A free-standing hinn, hin, hið does exist, but you will mostly meet it in formal writing.
The fifteen levels
Levels one to eleven work through the word classes, one at a time and then mixed. Levels twelve to fifteen move to sentence analysis: the predicate first, because everything else is found from it, then the subject (ask who or what before the verb), the object (ask whom or what after it), and finally main and subordinate clauses. A level is six questions and you need five to open the next one.
Who is this for
Icelandic students from about age 13 upwards, where this is the core of the grammar strand, and again in upper secondary. Learners of Icelandic get something different out of it: the sentences are short and ordinary, and the feedback names the class of whatever you picked and why, so a wrong tap teaches as much as a right one. There is no account, no ads and no payment.
How do you tell an Icelandic noun from a verb?
By running a test rather than trying to remember. A noun takes the suffixed definite article and can be counted: bíll becomes bíllinn, and you can say einn bíll, tveir bílar. A verb takes the infinitive marker að and shifts with tense: að hlaupa, ég hleyp, ég hljóp. The same stem often does both, so the test has to be run on the word where it stands.
That is the whole idea behind Greiningin. A short Icelandic sentence appears and you tap the word being asked for, and the feedback names the class of whatever you picked and why, so a wrong tap teaches as much as a right one. There are fifteen levels: eleven work through the word classes one at a time and then mixed, and four move on to sentence analysis, starting with the predicate because every other part is found from it. Each level is six questions and five correct opens the next one, and the reference card stays open while you answer.
Frequently asked questions
- How do you tell an Icelandic noun from a verb?
- Run two tests. A noun takes the suffixed definite article and can be counted: bíll becomes bíllinn, and you can say einn bíll, tveir bílar. A verb takes the infinitive marker að and changes with tense: að hlaupa, ég hleyp, ég hljóp. The same stem can do both, so the test has to be run on the word as it stands in the sentence.
- How many parts of speech does Icelandic have?
- School grammar counts nine or ten. Five inflect for case and are grouped as fallorð: nouns, adjectives, pronouns, numerals and the article. Verbs form a group of their own. The rest do not inflect at all: adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and the infinitive marker að.
- Where is the definite article in Icelandic?
- Attached to the end of the noun, not standing in front of it. Bíll becomes bíllinn, bók becomes bókin, hús becomes húsið. A free-standing article hinn, hin, hið exists but is largely confined to formal writing.