Lögfræðingurinn les samninginn.

The lawyer reads the contract.

Breakdown of Lögfræðingurinn les samninginn.

• lesa: to read
• samningurinn: the contract
• lögfræðingurinn: the lawyer

Questions & Answers about Lögfræðingurinn les samninginn.

Why do lögfræðingurinn and samninginn both have endings that look like the?

In Icelandic, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word like English the.

So:

• lögfræðingur = lawyer
• lögfræðingurinn = the lawyer

and

• samningur = contract / agreement
• samninginn = the contract / the agreement

The exact form of that attached article changes depending on gender, number, and case, so it will not always look the same.

Why is it lögfræðingurinn but samninginn? Why are the endings different if both mean the ...?

Because Icelandic nouns change form depending on their grammatical case.

In this sentence:

• lögfræðingurinn is the subject = the person doing the reading
• samninginn is the direct object = the thing being read

The subject is in the nominative case, while the direct object is in the accusative case.

So the two nouns take different forms:

• lögfræðingurinn = nominative singular definite
• samninginn = accusative singular definite

This is very common in Icelandic. English mostly does not show this on nouns, but Icelandic does.