N-rule (Icelandic language)

In Icelandic orthography, the n-rules are rules for determining when one letter n or two consecutive n's should be written, a difference that sometimes affects the pronunciation.

Compound words

If an element of a compound word that is not the final element ends with one or two n's, the number of n's is the same as in the original word from which that element is derived, of which it is a possibly modified and usually shortened form. For example:

Spergilkál er ekki banvænt. (ban+vænt, where ban stems from the word bani)

Er svertingi bannorð? (bann+orð, where bann stems from the word banna)

Þessi mynd er kynngimögnuð! (kynngi+mögnuð, where kynngi stems from the word kunnugur; in this case u gets changed to y)

Skálinn okkar er kyngifenntur. (kyngi+fenntur, where kyngi stems from the word kyngja)

It can be hard to find related words to determine whether one or two n's should be written. One way is to search for possible origin words with two n's in their stem. If no such words are to be found, the use of one n is plausible. The example with kynngi, with a changed vowel, shows this is not a straightforward matter.

For example:

Elísu vantar krans.

Function words

Below are rules about the number of n’s in function words, which do not decline nor conjugate. Various function words which indicate movement end with –an and never –ann.

Examples:

Hvaðan, austan, vestan, sunnan, norðan, innan, utan, ofan, neðan, framan, aftan, handan, undan, héðan, þaðan, meðan, áðan, saman, síðan, jafnan, jafnharðan, sjaldan.

Adverbs

In the adverbs “þanneiginn” (þann + veginn) and “hinseginn” two n’s are written.

Enn and en

One is supposed to write “enn” – meaning "still" – whenever it's possible to use “enn þá” instead without changing the meaning of the sentence. In every other case, “en” is used. “En”, which can mean different things, is often used when comparing. “En” can also be a conjunction.

Examples with two n's:

Ég er enn ungur og myndarlegur. - "I'm still young and beautiful"

Ég er enn þá ungur og myndarlegur.

Ertu enn skólastjóri? - "Are you still headmaster of the school?"

Ertu enn þá skólastýra?

Examples with one "n":

Stúlkan er hærri en pilturinn. - "The girl is taller than the guy"

Er blár fallegri litur en rauður? "Is blue a more beautiful colour than red?"

En hvað finnst þér? "And what do you think?"

Ég vildi bláan bíl en hún vildi rauðan. "I wanted a blue car, but she wanted a red one."

Definite article

The definite article always uses the same number of n's, which means that it does not matter whether it is added as a suffix to the word or written as a separate word.

Example:

Separate word: Hin skemmtilega kona. - "The funny woman"

Suffixed: Skemmtilega konan.

Example:

Separate word: Hinn hávaxni maður. - "The tall man"

Suffixed: Hávaxni maðurinn.

Two n's are used whenever a possessive pronoun has an "i" (minni, minnar, minn, minna..).

One "n" is used whenever a possessive pronoun has an "í"; that is, an "i" with an acute accent, not a tittle (mínum, míns, mína, mín..).

The number of n's in a possessive pronoun always corresponds to the number of n's in the definite article of the same form:

Example:

Hesturinn. → Minn hestur. - "The horse" → "My horse" (Nom. Sg. Masc.)

Hestinum. → Mínum hesti. - "To the horse" → "To my horse" (Dat. Sg. Masc.)

Ákvarðananna. → Minna ákvarðana. - "Of the choices" → "Of my choices" (Gen. Pl. Fem.)

Nouns without articles

Masculine nouns

Rule one

Masculine nouns ending in -ann, -inn and -unn in nominative singular, are written with one "n" in all other cases (accusative, dative and genitive).

Examples:

	Nominative	Accusative	Dative	Genitive
morgunn	morgunn	[um] morgun	[frá] morgni	[til] morguns
drottinn	drottinn	[um] drottin	[frá] drottni	[til] drottins
himinn	himinn	[um] himin	[frá] himni	[til] himins
arinn	arinn	[um] arin	[frá] arni	[til] arins

Other words which decline this way:

Skarphéðinn, Héðinn, Þórarinn, Huginn, jötunn, Kristinn, Þráinn, Muninn, Auðunn, Auðun (beygist eins og Auðunn nema i nefnifalli), Óðinn, Reginn.

The words Huginn, Reginn and Muninn don't change in the accusative and dative case (Hugin, Munin og Regin).

The word aftann (which means evening) is the only word in modern Icelandic that declines this way, and is used mostly in compounds like aftansöngur (evening mass) or aftanbjarmi (evening light).

	Nominative	Accusative	Dative	Genitive
Aftann	aftann	[um] aftan	[frá] aftni	[til] aftans

Rule two

Some names which originated in Irish and end with -an in the nominative case, end with a single "n" in all cases. The names Kiljan, Kamban, Kjarvan, Kvaran, Kjartan, Natan etc. are examples of such names.

	Nominative	Accusative	Dative	Genitive
Natan	Natan	[um] Natan	[frá] Natan	[til] Natans
Kjartan	Kjartan	[um] Kjartan	[frá] Kjartani	[til] Kjartans

Feminine words

Rule one

The first n-rule for feminine nouns, the so-called Þórunnarregla, states that Icelandic feminine names which come from the name unnur (like Þórunn, Jórunn, Iðunn, Ingunn, Ljótunn, Dýrunn, Sæunn), have two n's in all cases.

	Nominative	Accusative	Dative	Genitive
Jórunn	Jórunn	[um] Jórunni	[frá] Jórunni	[til] Jórunnar
Iðunn	Iðunn	[um] Iðunni	[frá] Iðunni	[til] Iðunnar

Rule two

The second n-rule for feminine nouns, the so-called miskunnarregla, states that the four feminine nouns which come from the noun kunna and kenna (einkunn, vorkunn, miskunn and forkunn) have two n's in all cases.

	Nominative	Accusative	Dative	Genitive
miskunn	miskunn	[um] miskunn	[frá] miskunn	[til] miskunnar
vorkunn	vorkunn	[um] vorkunn	[frá] vorkunn	[til] vorkunnar

Rule three

The third n-rule for feminine nouns, the so-called verslunarregla, states that feminine nouns ending with -un or -an in the nominative case, and come from the infinitive mood of verbs, should be spelled with a single "n" in all cases.

Examples:

mengun (að menga)

skömmtun (að skammta)

sönnun (að sanna)

verslun (að versla)

líðan (að líða)

skipan (að skipa)

...etc