Peningarnir eru ekki nóg.

to be

Breakdown of Peningarnir eru ekki nóg.

• ekki: not
• peningurinn: the money
• nóg: enough

Questions & Answers about Peningarnir eru ekki nóg.

What does the sentence Peningarnir eru ekki nóg. mean?

It means "The money is not enough." In other words, it expresses that the available money is insufficient.

How is the definite article expressed in peningarnir?

In Icelandic, the definite article is attached as a suffix to the noun. Here, the noun peningar (meaning “money”) becomes peningarnir by adding the suffix -arnir, which indicates “the money.”

Why is peningar in the plural form even though “money” in English is an uncountable noun?

In Icelandic, certain nouns—especially those referring to abstract concepts or collective items, like money—are traditionally used in the plural form. This grammatical choice doesn’t necessarily imply that the word denotes multiple individual objects; it’s simply how the language conventionally handles that noun.

Why is the verb eru used instead of a singular form like er?

The verb eru is the plural form of vera (to be) and agrees with the plural subject peningarnir. Even though English treats “money” as an uncountable noun (using “is”), Icelandic grammar requires that the verb matches the noun’s plural form in this instance.

What role does ekki play in the sentence?

Ekki is the negation word, equivalent to “not” in English. It is placed right after the verb eru to indicate that the state described—being “enough”—does not apply.

How does the adjective nóg function in this sentence, and why isn’t it inflected to match the plural subject?

The word nóg is a predicate adjective meaning “enough.” In Icelandic, adjectives used as predicate complements after the copula (in this case, eru) often appear in a default, uninflected form (commonly the neuter singular), regardless of the subject’s number or gender. This is a normal feature of Icelandic predicative constructions.