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Hún skrifaði viðbót við bréfið.

Hún skrifaði viðbót við bréfið.
She wrote an addition to the letter.
From Lesson 83:Spending a weekend at a summer cottage·Hardcore Icelandic

Breakdown of Hún skrifaði viðbót við bréfið.

skrifa
to write
hún
she
bréfið
the letter
við
to
viðbótin
the addition

Questions & Answers about Hún skrifaði viðbót við bréfið.

What form of the verb is skrifaði?
Skrifaði is the past tense of skrifa (to write), here in the 3rd person singular. So hún skrifaði means she wrote.
Why is hún included? Could Icelandic just say skrifaði?
Usually, no. Icelandic normally keeps the subject pronoun, so hún skrifaði is the normal way to say she wrote. Icelandic is not like Spanish or Italian, where subject pronouns are often dropped.
What does viðbót mean in this sentence?
Viðbót means an addition, a supplement, or an extra part. In this sentence, it means she wrote some extra material connected to the letter—something like an addendum or extra note.
Why is there no word for an before viðbót?
Because Icelandic has no indefinite article. English says a/an, but Icelandic usually just uses the noun by itself. So viðbót can mean an addition without a separate word for an.
What does við mean here? I thought við often meant with, by, or against.
Við has several meanings in Icelandic, depending on context. Here it means something like to in English. The phrase viðbót við bréfið means an addition to the letter.
Is viðbót við basically a set expression?
Yes. Viðbót við + accusative noun is a very common pattern meaning an addition to .... So you can think of it as working much like English addition to.
Why does bréfið end in -ið?

Because Icelandic usually puts the definite article onto the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like the.

  • bréf = letter
  • bréfið = the letter

So the -ið here is the attached definite article.

What case is bréfið, and why isn’t it bréfinu?

Here bréfið is accusative singular, because við takes the accusative in this expression.

It is not bréfinu because bréfinu is dative singular, and that is not the case used after við here.

A small extra point: with the neuter noun bréf, the nominative and accusative singular look the same, so you do not see a separate accusative ending.

What case is viðbót?

It is the direct object of skrifaði, so it is in the accusative singular.

In practice, the form is still viðbót, because this noun does not show a different visible ending here. So even though the case is accusative, the word looks the same as the dictionary form.

Does this sentence sound like a postscript?
It can, depending on context, but viðbót is broader than just postscript. It means any addition or extra written part. So the sentence suggests that she added some extra writing to the letter, not necessarily only a formal P.S.
How is the letter ð pronounced in words like skrifaði and bréfið?

Usually ð is pronounced like the th in this, not like the th in thing.

So:

  • skrifaði has that voiced th sound
  • bréfið does too in the ending -ið

For an English speaker, that is the best first approximation.

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