Hundurinn er góður.

The dog is good.

Breakdown of Hundurinn er góður.

• vera: to be
• góður: good
• hundurinn: the dog

Questions & Answers about Hundurinn er góður.

Why is it Hundurinn and not Hundur?

In Icelandic, -inn is a definite article suffix. So Hundurinn literally means the dog, while Hundur means a dog.

What case is Hundurinn in, and why?

Hundurinn is in the nominative case, because it is the subject of the sentence. Icelandic has four cases (nominative, accusative, dative, and genitive), and the subject of a sentence typically takes the nominative case.

Why does "er" stay the same for "he" and "she" too?

The verb "er" is the third-person singular form of að vera (to be). Icelandic doesn't change this form between “he,” “she,” or “it”—it remains er in all those cases (for instance, hann er, hún er, það er).

Is "góður" always spelled this way?

Góður is the masculine nominative singular form of the adjective meaning “good.” If the noun were feminine or neuter, or if the sentence used a different case, the adjective might change form. For example, in a feminine context it could be góð, and in neuter, gott.

How do I pronounce "Hundurinn er góður"?

Roughly, you can say it like HOON-dur-in er GOE-thur. Remember that r in Icelandic is a bit more rolled than in English, and the ð in góður sounds like the soft “th” in “this.”