Sjúklingurinn er í dái.

Sjúklingurinn = sjúklingur + -inn

• sjúklingur = patient
• -inn = the definite article, meaning the

So Sjúklingurinn means the patient.

This is very common in Icelandic: instead of a separate word like English the, Icelandic often adds the definite article to the end of the noun.

Because sjúklingurinn is definite: it means the patient, not just a patient or patient in a general sense.

Compare:

• sjúklingur = a patient / patient
• sjúklingurinn = the patient

The ending changes because the noun is carrying the definite article.

Er is the present tense of the verb að vera (to be).

So:

• ég er = I am
• þú ert = you are
• hann/hún/það er = he/she/it is

In this sentence, Sjúklingurinn er í dái literally means The patient is in a coma.

Because the preposition í can take different cases depending on the meaning.

Here it expresses location or state—the patient is in a coma, not moving into it—so í takes the dative case.

The noun is:

• nominative: dá
• dative: dái

So:

• í dái = in a coma

This is part of a very important Icelandic pattern:

• í
  • dative = in, when talking about being somewhere / being in a state
• í
  • accusative = into, when there is motion toward something

It is a normal kind of change for some Icelandic nouns, especially neuter nouns like dá.

The important thing for a learner is not to assume the base form always stays the same after a preposition. Icelandic nouns change form by case, and dái is the correct dative form after í here.

So you should learn it as a set:

• dá = coma
• í dái = in a coma

Yes, dá is a noun, and it is neuter.

That matters because Icelandic nouns belong to grammatical genders—masculine, feminine, or neuter—and this affects how they decline and what forms go with them.

In this sentence, though, the main thing you need to recognize is that dái is the correct case form of dá after í.

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

The subject is the person or thing doing or being something. Here:

• Sjúklingurinn = the subject
• er = is
• í dái = in a coma

So Sjúklingurinn is in the nominative form.

The basic word order is the same as in English:

Subject + verb + prepositional phrase

So:

• Sjúklingurinn = subject
• er = verb
• í dái = prepositional phrase

Literally: The patient is in a coma.

This makes the sentence fairly straightforward for an English speaker.

You would usually say:

Sjúklingur er í dái.

Here, sjúklingur has no definite article attached, so it means a patient or simply patient in a more general sense.

Compare:

• Sjúklingur er í dái. = A patient is in a coma.
• Sjúklingurinn er í dái. = The patient is in a coma.

A rough guide for English speakers is:

SYOO-kling-ur-rinn

A few helpful points:

• sjú sounds roughly like syoo
• gl in sjúklingur is pronounced clearly; don’t drop the g
• -urinn is the definite ending here, and the r sound should be pronounced

This is only an approximation, but it helps you get started.

The accent marks in Icelandic vowels show that the vowel quality is different; they are not optional spelling marks.

In this sentence:

• ú in Sjúklingurinn
• í
• á in dái

These are distinct Icelandic vowels and should be learned as part of the word’s spelling and pronunciation.

So i and í are not the same letter for practical learning purposes, and the same goes for a and á, u and ú, etc.

Yes. Even though í often means in, in a sentence like this it describes a state or condition, not a physical container-like place.

So í dái means the patient is in the state of coma.

Icelandic uses í for many states and conditions, not just literal locations.

Usually, no. In ordinary Icelandic, the definite article is most often attached to the noun as a suffix.

So English:

• the patient

becomes Icelandic:

• sjúklingurinn

rather than a separate word + noun.

There are a few special constructions in the language, but for a learner, the main rule is: Icelandic usually adds “the” to the end of the noun.

Yes. Sjúklingurinn er í dái is a normal, standard way to express that meaning.

It is direct and medically neutral:

• sjúklingurinn = the patient
• er = is
• í dái = in a coma

So it sounds like standard written or spoken Icelandic, especially in a medical context.