Barnið er lítið.

to be

Breakdown of Barnið er lítið.

• barnið: the child
• lítið: small

Questions & Answers about Barnið er lítið.

Why does Icelandic have barnið instead of writing barn plus a separate word for "the"?

In Icelandic, the definite article is attached to the noun as a suffix rather than written as a separate word. So barn ("a child") becomes barnið ("the child").

Why do we use lítið instead of lítill or lítil?

The adjective must match the gender and number of the noun. Barn is neuter singular, and the neuter singular form of "small" is lítið. If it were masculine singular, you'd say lítill, and if it were feminine singular, you'd say lítil.

What does er mean, and why is it used here?

Er is the present tense, third-person singular form of the verb að vera ("to be"). It's used just like "is" in English.

Is the ð in barnið pronounced the same way as in lítið?

Yes, the letter ð typically represents a soft "th" sound (like in breaTHE). However, when ð occurs at the end of a word (as in lítið), it’s sometimes weakened or barely pronounced.

Can I say Barn er lítið instead of Barnið er lítið?

You could, but it would mean "A child is small" rather than "The child is small". If you want to talk about a specific child, you should use barnið.