fyrir

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse fyrir (“before, for”), from Proto-Germanic *furi (“before, for”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [fɪrɪr] (when unstressed)
• IPA^(key): [ˈfɪːrɪr] (when stressed)

Preposition

fyrir

1. [with accusative]:
   1. for (expressing intent or purpose)

      Þessi gjöf er fyrir hana. ― This gift is for her.

   2. for, before (describing a target deadline or time frame)

      Hún fór til útlanda fyrir helgina.

      She went abroad before the weekend.

      [To say “abroad for the weekend”, use um helgina.]

   3. for (expressing an amount paid for an object)

      Ég borgaði fimmtíu þúsund evrur fyrir bílinn. ― I paid fifty thousand euros for the car.

   4. to/for (expressing perception or benefit with some adjectives)

      Þetta er ekki mikilvægt fyrir mig.

      This is not important to/for me.

      [Usage of fyrir followed by the accusative case with adjectives like mikilvægur or erfiður is modeled on English and discouraged in formal prescriptive grammar. To express personal perception traditionally, the bare dative without a preposition is used (e.g., Þetta er mér ekki mikilvægt), or the phrase is reordered using dative perception (e.g., Fyrir mér er þetta ekki mikilvægt).]

   5. for, on behalf of, in place of (describing an action done in place of someone else)

      Hann sótti ráðstefnuna fyrir mig. ― He attended the conference for/on behalf of me.

   6. before, in front of (expressing directional motion to a position in front of somewhere)

      Hann ók bílnum fyrir húsið. ― He drove the car [to a position] in front of the house.

   7. before (expressing time before a specified point in time)

      Mjólkin er best fyrir næsta sunnudag. ― The milk is best before next Sunday.

2. [with dative]:
   1. ago (describing a point in time in the past)

      Hann bjó á Spáni fyrir tveimur árum. ― He lived in Spain two years ago.

   2. for (expressing benefit or harm)

      Ég bað fyrir hjálpræði þínu. ― I prayed for your salvation.

   3. for (expressing oversight or leadership)

      Hann fer fyrir öllum verkefnunum.

      He is leading all the projects.

      (literally, “He goes before all the projects.”)

   4. to, in the eyes of, in the opinion of (expressing perception, clarity, or how something appears to someone, in certain fixed expressions)

      Málið er löngu orðið ljóst fyrir mér. ― The matter has long been clear to me.

      Hvernig birtist þetta fyrir þér?

      How does this appear to you / how do you perceive this?

   5. in front of, blocking, obstructing (expressing a static location in front of something, usually in a way that blocks or causes an obstruction)

      Bíllinn stendur fyrir dyrunum.

      The car is standing in front of the door [blocking the doorway].

      [To say “in front of” without the implication of blocking, use fyrir framan.]

      .

Derived terms

• deyja fyrir hendi (“to die by (someone's) hand”)
• eins og við gerðum ráð fyrir
• fyrir fram
• fyrir neðan
• gera ráð fyrir
• gera sér lítið fyrir
• segja fyrir
• skref fyrir skref
• takk fyrir
• trúa fyrir
• út af fyrir sig
• vera fyrir
• virða fyrir sér
• þetta er hebreska fyrir mér

Adverb

fyrir

1. therefore

Old Norse

Alternative forms

• fyr

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *furi (“before, for”). Cognate with Old English for, Old Saxon furi, Old High German furi, Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂 (faur).

Preposition

fyrir [with dative (indicating location or advantage) or accusative (indicating movement)]

1. before, in front of
2. for

Descendants

• Icelandic: fyrir
• Faroese: fyri
• Norwegian Nynorsk: føre, for, fyre (dated)
• Old Swedish: fyri(r), for
  • Swedish: före, för
• Old Danish: for, fore, fyr
  • Danish: for

Further reading

• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), “fyrir”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive

Old Swedish

Numeral

fȳrir

1. alternative form of fiūrir