afi
The Icelandic word for grandpa is afi.
afi is used to refer to a grandfather in an informal or common way.
Meaning: grandfather (informal) (noun)
Which one should you use?
afi is the common, informal way to say grandpa, whereas föðurfaðir is the more formal or standard term for grandfather.
How does it change in a sentence?
The word afi changes based on its role in a sentence. Use afa to indicate possession (grandpa's) and afanum to indicate the dative case (to/for the grandpa).
Did you know?
- The word afi is part of a tight kinship system where Icelandic has specific words for every relative, such as föðurfaðir for a father's father and móðursfaðir for a mother's father.
- The word afi is a direct descendant of the Old Norse word afi, meaning it has remained virtually unchanged for over a millennium.
- In some traditional Icelandic contexts, a grandfather might be called afi while the grandmother is called amma, and these two words are nearly mirrored in their phonetic structure.
Examples in context
- Afi er mjög góður maður.Grandpa is a very good man.
Example conversation
Gunnar and Katrín are talking about their family.
- GunnarHvenær kemur afi í heimsókn?When is grandpa coming to visit?
- KatrínHann kemur á laugardaginn.He is coming on Saturday.
- GunnarÞað er frábært!That is great!
- KatrínJá, við munum mega sjá afa.Yes, we will get to see grandpa.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry afi, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries afi, CC BY-SA 4.0.
