Lyklaboxið er úti.

to be

Breakdown of Lyklaboxið er úti.

• úti: outside
• lyklaboxið: the key box

Questions & Answers about Lyklaboxið er úti.

Why does lyklaboxið start with lykla- when the sentence is only talking about one box?

Because lyklaboxið is a compound noun:

• lykill = key
• box = box
• lyklabox = key box

In Icelandic compounds, the first part often appears in a special linking form. Here, lykill becomes lykla-, which is historically the genitive plural form.

So lyklabox is literally something like box of keys, but naturally it just means key box.

Important: the whole noun can still be singular even if the first part looks plural-ish.
So lyklaboxið is the key box, not the key boxes.

Why does lyklaboxið end in -ið?

The ending -ið is the definite article attached to the noun.

Icelandic usually does not use a separate word for the the way English does. Instead, it adds the article to the end of the noun:

• lyklabox = a key box / key box
• lyklaboxið = the key box

So -ið here means the.

This is very normal in Icelandic and one of the first big differences English speakers notice.

What is the dictionary form of , and what gender is it?