Lyfjaskápurinn er læstur.

to be

Breakdown of Lyfjaskápurinn er læstur.

• læsa: to lock
• lyfjaskápurinn: the medicine cabinet

Questions & Answers about Lyfjaskápurinn er læstur.

How do I break down lyfjaskápurinn?

It is a compound plus the definite article:

• lyfja- = medicine / drugs
• skápur = cabinet, cupboard
• -inn = the

So lyfjaskápurinn is literally the medicine cabinet.

A very common feature of Icelandic is that long words are built out of smaller meaningful parts like this.

Why does the compound use lyfja- instead of just lyf-?

In Icelandic compounds, the first part often appears in a special linking form. Here, lyfja- is that compound form, historically related to a genitive plural idea: of medicines.

So although English says medicine cabinet, Icelandic uses lyfjaskápur.

This does not mean you should translate it word-for-word as cabinet of medicines every time. It is just the normal Icelandic compound.

Why is the word for the attached to the noun?

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

So:

• lyfjaskápur = a medicine cabinet
• lyfjaskápurinn = the medicine cabinet

With masculine nouns like skápur, the nominative singular definite form often ends in -urinn:

• skápur → skápurinn
• hestur → hesturinn

That is why you see lyfjaskápurinn rather than a separate word for the.