# Icelandic: Will you be my girlfriend?



## Brandon751

I want to ask the Icelandic girl I am dating to be my girlfriend at dinner this weekend. Please Help


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## Alxmrphi

*Viltu vera kærasta mín?*

You pronounce the i's in a short way (so like the 'i' in p*i*ll, not _f*i*nd_)
Except for the last one, the last word sounds exactly like "mean" in English.
'Kærasta' is pronounced like, well *kæ* rhymes with *high*, and add 'rasta' to the end of it.
Put the stresses on the beginning of the words (*'*Viltu *'*vera *'*kærasta mín?)

I thought people that are dating are already boyfriend / girlfriend... 
(..Good luck!)


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## Silver_Biscuit

Do kærasta and kærasti follow the same rule as bróðir, vinur, mamma, etc, then? (i.e. not having the definite article when they are 'possessed') I've wondered about this before, because it seems like they all fit into the same group - close relationships, but you can never be sure with Icelandic.


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## Alxmrphi

Ah, you're right, it's been a while since going over that rule I just associated closeness with lack of a definite article, but you're correct to have doubts.
*Kærasti/a* do need the definite article (though 'viltu vera kærasta mín' does return some usages in Google).

The only other thing to remember really is *maður / kona* need it, and they're used to mean husband / wife, so really closeness = lack of definite article except for boy/girlfriends and husband/wife.

So Brandon, it's : Viltu vera kærastan mín.


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## Södertjej

Is k in kærasti pronounced as /k/?


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## Silver_Biscuit

Södertjej said:


> Is k in kærasti pronounced as /k/?


 
I don't know the IPA symbols, but it's pronounced as in the English words kettle, card, king, etc.


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## Södertjej

Oh, interesting, thanks.


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## Alxmrphi

Södertjej said:


> Is k in kærasti pronounced as /k/?



Well, before* æ* the letter *k* is pronounced with a _j-insertion_.

So when saying the word* kærasti*, the front part of it in IPA would be something like /*kjai:ræstI*/.
It's supposed to be similar to the way you say an English word like _*keen *_(so says the book I have in front of me, but I wouldn't agree, maybe in some BE accents)
But there is a minute distinction to be made between this use of k, in Icelandic words like _kæning_ and _klókur_.

This might be the aspiring linguist in me that is splitting unnecessary hairs here... but it is distinction noted in my book under the pronunciation of 'k'.
It's possible to notice the shape of your mouth when you're about to pronounce a word, like when you know you're going to say the word 'kettle', your mouth is wider than if you knew you were going to say the word 'card' and this links with slight differences in pronunciation. (Even looking at those last Icelandic words I mentioned, realising the 'k' before the 'l' leads you to have a much more closed mouth shape than preparing for a vowel like *æ* in the first example.

So my short answer is, yes it is pronounced as /k/ but prepare for a j-insertion in pronunciation (before æ) which will affect the shape of your mouth.
Tiny tiny details


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## Södertjej

I just wondered because k + some vowels in Swedish is some kind of sh. Kära (dear), or kärlek (love), both related words that obviously share the same origin, are pronounced like that, not with a k.


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## Tuomas

The same word in norwegian is "kjæreste". Might be pronounced the same. Some kind of "sh", as Södertjei says, only that you use the middle/back part of your tongue, in stead of the front.


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## Pont neuf

Brandon751 said:


> I want to ask the Icelandic girl I am dating to be my girlfriend at dinner this weekend. Please Help


If you want to be direct, say _viltu vera kærastan mín_. However, this is perhaps a bit too direct and old fashioned. _Viltu byrja með mér_? would be better, or still better: _Ættum við að byrja saman_? She will understand as soon as you say it, no doubt about that.


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