Ævin er löng.

to be

Breakdown of Ævin er löng.

• langur: long
• ævin: the lifetime; life

Questions & Answers about Ævin er löng.

Why is it ævin and not ævi?

Ævi is the basic noun form, meaning life or lifetime.

Ævin is the definite form, roughly the life. In Icelandic, the definite article is usually added to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word.

So:

• ævi = life / a life
• ævin = the life

In this sentence, Icelandic uses the definite form.

Why is there no separate word for the?

Because Icelandic usually puts the onto the end of the noun as a suffix.

So instead of:

• English: the life

Icelandic says:

• ævin

That final -n is the definite article here.

This is a very common feature of Icelandic nouns.

Why is the definite form used if English just says Life is long?

This is a very common thing that surprises English speakers.

Icelandic often uses the definite form where English uses no article at all, especially in general statements or more abstract, literary, or proverbial-sounding sentences.

So Ævin er löng can correspond to English Life is long, even though Icelandic literally looks more like The life is long.

This is not a word-for-word match with English article usage.

What does er mean?