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Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Steinninn er harður. - The stone is hard.

Hardcore Icelandic
/Completing an individual tax return
/Steinninn er harður.

Steinninn er harður.

Word

Steinninn er harður.

Meaning

The stone is hard.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Icelandic

Lesson

Completing an individual tax return

Breakdown of Steinninn er harður.

the stone; small rock

hard; tough (physical)

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Questions & Answers about Steinninn er harður.

Why is it steinninn and not just steinn?

Because Icelandic usually puts the definite article, meaning the, onto the end of the noun. So:

steinn = stone / a stone
steinninn = the stone

That attached article is one of the first big differences from English.

Is steinninn the dictionary form of the noun?

No. The dictionary form is steinn, which is the nominative singular indefinite form. When you learn Icelandic nouns, you normally memorize them in that form, and then learn how they change in other cases and with the definite article.

Why are there so many n letters in steinninn?

Because the noun steinn already ends in -nn, and the definite ending added here is -inn. When you combine them, you get steinninn.

So the spelling is basically showing both parts:

steinn
- -inn = steinninn

Is there a separate word for a/an in Icelandic?

No, Icelandic does not normally use a separate indefinite article the way English does. So steinn can mean a stone or just stone, depending on context.

That means Icelandic handles articles like this:

no special word for a/an
a suffix on the noun for the

What does er mean here?

Er is the present tense singular form of vera, which means to be. In this sentence it means is.

So:

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

Since steinninn is singular, er is the correct form.

Why does the adjective appear as harður?

Because Icelandic adjectives must agree with the noun they describe in gender, number, and case. Here, steinninn is:

masculine
singular
nominative

So the adjective also appears in the masculine singular nominative form: harður.

Why is it harður and not harði, even though steinninn is definite?

That is a very common question. In this sentence, harður is a predicate adjective: it comes after er and describes the subject. Predicate adjectives in Icelandic normally use the strong form, not the weak definite-style form.

So:

harði steinninn = the hard stone
- adjective before the noun, attributive use
steinninn er harður = the stone is hard
- adjective after er, predicate use

So even though the noun is definite, harður is still correct here.

What case is steinninn in, and does harður match it?

Steinninn is in the nominative case, because it is the subject of the sentence. Yes, harður matches it: it is also nominative, as well as masculine singular.

So the grammar lines up like this:

steinninn = masculine singular nominative
harður = masculine singular nominative

Is the word order here the same as in English?

In this simple sentence, yes. It follows the basic pattern:

subject: Steinninn
verb: er
complement: harður

So it looks very similar to English: The stone is hard. Icelandic can change word order more than English in some contexts, but this is the normal neutral order for a plain statement.

How would this change in the plural?

The noun, verb, and adjective would all change:

Steinarnir eru harðir. = The stones are hard.

Here:

steinninn → steinarnir
er → eru
harður → harðir

This is a good example of how Icelandic often shows agreement in several words at once.

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