Af hverju er maturinn kaldur?

to be

Breakdown of Af hverju er maturinn kaldur?

• maturinn: the food
• af hverju: why
• kaldur: cold

Questions & Answers about Af hverju er maturinn kaldur?

What is the function of Af hverju at the beginning of the sentence?

Af hverju means why. In Icelandic, placing the question word at the very start of the sentence signals that the sentence is interrogative and sets the stage for the verb-second (V2) structure that follows.

Why does the sentence use the verb er in the second position rather than immediately following the subject?

Icelandic follows a strict V2 rule, which means the finite verb must appear in the second position. Since Af hverju occupies the first slot, er (meaning is) comes next, followed by the subject maturinn and the predicate kaldur.

How is the definite article expressed in the noun maturinn?

In Icelandic, definite articles are not separate words but are attached to the noun as a suffix. The noun matur (food) takes the suffix -inn to become maturinn, meaning the food.

Why does the adjective kaldur appear in its basic form even though it describes a definite noun?

When adjectives are used predicatively—that is, following a linking verb like er—they typically remain in their uninflected or basic form. Although adjectives must agree with their nouns when used attributively (before the noun), in this case, kaldur remains unchanged because it functions as a predicate adjective.

How does the structure of this Icelandic question compare to the structure of a similar English question?

Both Icelandic and English often invert the subject and verb in questions. In English, you might ask, Why is the food cold? with the auxiliary verb placed before the subject. Similarly, in Icelandic, after fronting the question word Af hverju, the finite verb er comes in second position per the V2 rule. Although the overall order is similar, the morphological marking (such as attaching the definite article as a suffix) is uniquely Icelandic.