In an hour

Discussing durations of time such as “in a week” and “for a week” is something that greatly confuses students since the prepositions used don’t match up with the ones used in English. “Í eina viku” does not mean “in one week”, it means “for one week”.

Both of these phrases use the accusative case (the second case).

Be aware that the “einn” is pronounced [eídn] and that the final “n” is not pronounced with the voice, instead you just place your tongue into the position of an “n” without making a sound. This [dn] sound only shows up when “nn” comes after an í or an ú sound (remember that ei is pronounced [eí]); the tongue is so close to the roof of the mouth in those sounds that it’s easier to make a [dn] sound than an “n” sound.

The numbers from one to four all change their form depending on case and gender. The first two cases for the masculine and feminine are:

The “ei” in “einn” is pronounced quickly because it is followed by two or more consonants. The “ei” in “ein” is a long sound because it is followed by one or fewer consonants.