Hundurinn er hvítur.

The dog is white.

Breakdown of Hundurinn er hvítur.

• vera: to be
• hundurinn: the dog
• hvítur: white

Questions & Answers about Hundurinn er hvítur.

What does Hundurinn er hvítur mean, and what are the functions of each word in the sentence?

Hundurinn translates to "the dog"—the base word hundur (dog) has the definite marker -urinn attached, signaling that it is definite. Er is the third person singular present form of “to be”, and hvítur is an adjective meaning “white”. In this sentence, hvítur agrees with hundurinn in gender (masculine), number (singular), and case (nominative).

Why does the noun Hundurinn include the ending -urinn instead of using a separate word for “the”?

Icelandic typically expresses the definite article as a suffix attached to the noun rather than as a separate word. Here, the noun hundur (dog) becomes hundurinn, with -urinn indicating the definite form, so it means “the dog.”

How do adjectives in Icelandic, such as hvítur, agree with the nouns they modify?

In Icelandic, adjectives must agree with their corresponding nouns in gender, number, and case. Since hundurinn is a masculine singular noun in the nominative case, the adjective hvítur takes the masculine singular nominative form. This agreement is essential in Icelandic grammar to clearly link adjectives with their nouns.

What is the role of the verb er in this sentence?

Er is the third person singular present form of the verb að vera (to be). In this sentence, it acts as a linking verb connecting the subject hundurinn to the predicate adjective hvítur, much like the English word “is” in “The dog is white.”

Does the sentence structure of Hundurinn er hvítur follow the typical Icelandic word order, and how does it compare to English?

Yes, the sentence follows a standard subject-verb-complement structure, which is very similar to English. Hundurinn is the subject, er is the linking verb, and hvítur is the complement that describes the subject. Although Icelandic allows for flexible word order due to its inflectional design, simple declarative sentences like this one commonly mirror the English pattern.