Maðurinn er í húsið.

The man is in the house.

Breakdown of Maðurinn er í húsið.

• vera: to be
• húsið: the house
• maðurinn: the man
• í: in

Questions & Answers about Maðurinn er í húsið.

What is the breakdown of the sentence Maðurinn er í húsið?

The sentence has three parts: • Maðurinn – This comes from maður (“man”) with the definite ending -inn, so it means “the man.” • er – This is the present form of “to be,” meaning “is.” • í húsið – Here, í means “in,” and hús (“house”) has taken its definite ending -ið, giving “the house.” Together, the sentence translates as “The man is in the house.”

Why does maður change to maðurinn in Icelandic?

Unlike English—which uses a separate word (the) to show definiteness—Icelandic expresses definiteness by attaching an ending directly to the noun. For masculine nouns like maður, the definite form is created by adding -inn, turning maður into maðurinn (“the man”).

Why does hús appear as húsið?

For neuter nouns, Icelandic adds the definite ending -ið. So, hús (“house”) becomes húsið (“the house”). This suffixation is how Icelandic marks definiteness without using a separate word like “the” in English.

How do I know which case the preposition í should govern in Icelandic?

Icelandic prepositions such as í can govern either the accusative or the dative case, depending on meaning: • When í indicates movement or direction (as in “go into the house”), it takes the accusative. • When it denotes a static location (as in “is in the house”), it normally takes the dative. For masculine and feminine nouns the forms differ noticeably. With neuter nouns like hús, the accusative definite form is húsið while the dative definite form is usually húsinu. In a sentence with a stative verb like er (“is”), many grammarians would expect í húsinu for a static location. The use of í húsið here might reflect a dialectal variation or a context where the accusative form (often used for directional motion) is chosen—even though the intended meaning is “located in.” Learning to decide between these forms comes with practice and exposure to authentic usage.

How do Icelandic definite endings compare to English definite articles?

In English, definiteness is expressed by using the separate word the before a noun. In Icelandic, definiteness is built right into the noun via an ending that changes with gender, number, and case. For example: • maður becomes maðurinn (“the man”) for masculine nouns. • hús becomes húsið (“the house”) for neuter nouns (although note that case distinctions may sometimes alter the ending, as with the expected dative húsinu in some contexts). This system means that in Icelandic you must learn the various endings to properly express definiteness in different grammatical situations.