Ég borða kvöldmat.

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Breakdown of Ég borða kvöldmat.

• borða: to eat
• kvöldmat: the dinner

Questions & Answers about Ég borða kvöldmat.

What does each word in Ég borða kvöldmat mean?

Ég means I; borða means eat (in the present tense); and kvöldmat means dinner or evening meal.

Why is the verb form borða used, and how does verb conjugation work here?

In Icelandic, verbs are conjugated according to the subject. Borða is the correct first person singular present form of the verb to eat. Although English often adds an “-s” for the third person, Icelandic distinguishes between persons with unique conjugations—here, the base form is used for I eat.

How do I know that kvöldmat is the object of the sentence, and what case is it in?

Kvöldmat functions as the direct object of the verb borða. In Icelandic, direct objects typically appear in the accusative case. For a masculine noun like kvöldmatur, the accusative singular form becomes kvöldmat—this change in form indicates its role as the object receiving the action.

Why is kvöldmat written as one word instead of two?

Icelandic often creates compound nouns by combining two words. In this case, kvöld means evening and mat means food. When combined into kvöldmat, the compound specifically refers to dinner or an evening meal.