Framtalsleiðbeiningarnar eru skýrar.

to be

Breakdown of Framtalsleiðbeiningarnar eru skýrar.

• skýr: clear
• framtalsleiðbeiningarnar: the tax return instructions

Questions & Answers about Framtalsleiðbeiningarnar eru skýrar.

Why is Framtalsleiðbeiningarnar written as one long word?

Because Icelandic very often makes compound nouns by joining words together.

Here, framtal + leiðbeiningar becomes framtalsleiðbeiningar, literally something like interview-guidelines.

This is completely normal in Icelandic. Where English often uses separate words, Icelandic often prefers one compound word:

• skóli = school
• bók = book
• skólabók = schoolbook

So Framtalsleiðbeiningarnar is not unusually complicated for Icelandic; it is just a compound noun with the definite article attached.

What is the -s- doing in framtalsleiðbeiningarnar?

That -s- is a very common linking/genitive element in Icelandic compounds.

The first part is based on framtal. In the compound, it appears as framtals-, which is like of an interview / interview-related.

So:

• framtal = interview
• framtals- = interview-, of an interview
• framtalsleiðbeiningar = interview guidelines

English usually shows this relationship with separate words, but Icelandic often shows it inside the compound itself.

Why does the word end in -nar?