Hundagjaldið er hátt.

It is a compound noun plus the definite article:

• hunda- = dog-related first element
• gjald = fee, charge
• -ið = the for a neuter singular noun

So hundagjaldið is built from hundagjald + -ið.

In Icelandic compounds, the first noun often does not stay in its basic dictionary form.

The dictionary form is hundur = dog, but in compounds you often get a linking form such as hunda-. So hundagjald is the normal compound form, not hundurgjald.

This is very common in Icelandic, and it is something learners usually have to get used to rather than predict perfectly every time.

Because Icelandic usually adds the definite article to the end of the noun instead of using a separate word.

So:

• hundagjald = a dog fee / dog fee
• hundagjaldið = the dog fee

That final -ið is doing the job of English the here.

In Icelandic compounds, the last part usually determines the grammatical gender.

Here, the final element is gjald, and gjald is a neuter noun. So the whole compound hundagjald is also neuter.

That is why you get:

• neuter definite article: -ið
• neuter adjective form: hátt

Er is the present tense singular form of vera, which means to be.

So:

• ég er = I am
• það er = it is
• hundagjaldið er = the dog fee is

Since hundagjaldið is singular, er is the correct form.

Because Icelandic adjectives must agree with the noun they describe in gender, number, and often case.

The noun here is hundagjaldið, which is neuter singular, so the adjective must also be neuter singular.

The adjective hár has these singular forms:

• masculine: hár
• feminine: há
• neuter: hátt

So Hundagjaldið er hátt is correct because the noun is neuter.

No. The dictionary form is normally the masculine singular nominative, which here is hár.

So when you look the word up, you usually look for hár, even though the sentence uses hátt.

This is very normal in Icelandic: the form you see in a sentence is often not the dictionary form.

It is in the nominative, because it is the subject of the sentence.

The sentence is basically:

• Hundagjaldið = subject
• er = verb
• hátt = predicate adjective

With vera (to be), the adjective usually matches the subject, so hátt is also neuter singular nominative here.

No, not necessarily. With fees, prices, taxes, and similar things, hár / há / hátt is used the same way English uses high.

So here it means something like:

• high
• expensive
• costly

depending on how the translation has been shown to the learner.

This is the most neutral, straightforward word order:

• Hundagjaldið er hátt.

It is the normal way to say it in an ordinary statement.

Icelandic does allow other word orders for emphasis or style, but this version is the plain default one that learners should be most comfortable with first.

It is called eth.

It usually represents a sound like the th in this, not the th in thing. In endings like -ið, it can sound quite light.

So -ið is roughly like ith with a voiced th sound.

Without -ið, you get:

Hundagjald er hátt.

That means a dog fee is high or dog fee is high, depending on context.

So the difference is:

• hundagjald = indefinite
• hundagjaldið = definite

That final article suffix is one of the basic things to notice in Icelandic nouns.