Grilltöngin er við gasgrillið.

The barbecue tongs are by the gas grill.

Breakdown of Grilltöngin er við gasgrillið.

• vera: to be
• við: by
• gasgrillið: the gas grill
• grilltöngin: the barbecue tongs

Questions & Answers about Grilltöngin er við gasgrillið.

Why does grilltöngin end in -in?

The ending -in is the suffixed definite article, meaning the.

So:

• grilltöng = barbecue tongs / a barbecue tong
• grilltöngin = the barbecue tongs

In Icelandic, the is usually attached to the end of the noun instead of being written as a separate word like in English.

Because grilltöng is a feminine noun, its definite singular nominative form is grilltöngin.

Why is the verb er singular, even though English says the tongs are?

This is a very common question for English speakers.

In this sentence, Icelandic treats grilltöng as a singular noun, so the verb is singular:

• er = is
• eru = are

So Icelandic says literally something like the grill-tongs is by the gas grill.

This happens because languages do not always agree on whether an object like tongs, scissors, or glasses is grammatically singular or plural. English uses a plural form, but Icelandic often uses a singular noun here.

What does við mean here?

Here við means by, next to, near, or at.

So við gasgrillið means that the tongs are located by the gas grill.

It does not necessarily mean they are touching it. It usually just gives the location.

Also, við can have other meanings in other contexts, so learners often need to judge it from the sentence.