Practical Icelandic: Greetings

How do you say hello in Icelandic? Turns out there's way more than one way... editor-in-chief of Reykjavík Grapevine, Valur Grettisson, takes you through some of the many complicated ways to greet people in Icelandic – an in the end, gives you a quick and easy option that you will already recognise!

Words to learn from this video:
Sæll - literally means 'happy', used for greeting a man
Sæl - greeting a woman or a mixed group
Sælir - greeting more than one man
Sælar - greeting more than one woman
(Komdu) blessaður - (come,) be blessed (singular, masculine)
(Komdu) blessuð - (come,) be blessed (singular feminine, or plural mixed gender)
Komdu heill og sæll - literally 'be healthy and happy' (singular, masculine)
Komið heil og sæl - (singular feminine, or plural mixed gender)
Sæll og blessaður - literally 'happy and blessed' (singular, masculine)
Sæl og blessuð - (singular feminine, or plural mixed gender)
Góðan daginn - good day
Góða kvöldið - good evening
Sælinú - literally 'hello now'
Halló - 'hello', mostly used when answering the phone

And finally, the simple solution:
Hæ hæ, or just hæ - hi!

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