Hún elskar tíminn.

to love

Breakdown of Hún elskar tíminn.

• hún: she
• tíminn: the time

Questions & Answers about Hún elskar tíminn.

What is the meaning of hún in this sentence?

It means she. In Icelandic, hún is the third-person singular feminine pronoun used as the subject of the sentence.

How is the verb elskar formed and what does it tell us about the subject?

Elskar is the third-person singular present tense form of the verb elska (to love). Its conjugation shows that the subject is singular (in this case, hún), matching the proper agreement required in Icelandic.

Why does the noun appear as tíminn instead of simply tími?

Icelandic expresses definiteness by attaching a suffix directly to the noun. Here, adding -inn to tími forms tíminn, which means the time. This is similar to how English uses a separate word (the) to indicate definiteness, but in Icelandic it’s shown as a suffix.

What can be said about the sentence structure of Hún elskar tíminn?

The sentence follows a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) order. Hún is the subject, elskar is the verb, and tíminn is the object. This structure is quite similar to standard English sentence constructions.

How does Icelandic handle the expression of definite objects in terms of case?

In Icelandic, when a noun is definite, the definite article is fused with it as a suffix, regardless of its grammatical role. Although elska requires its object to be in the accusative case, many masculine nouns (like tími) have the same form in both the nominative and accusative definite. That’s why tíminn is used even though it’s functioning as the accusative object.