Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Icelandic grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Fiskurinn er á borðið.
What is the literal English translation of Fiskurinn er á borðið?
The sentence translates to "The fish is on the table." Here, fiskurinn means "the fish" and á borðið means "on the table."
Why does the noun fiskur change to fiskurinn in this sentence?
In Icelandic, definiteness isn’t expressed by separate words like “the” but by adding a suffix directly to the noun. The word fiskur (“fish”) becomes fiskurinn to indicate a specific fish, i.e. "the fish."
How is the noun borð transformed into borðið, and what does that tell us about noun gender and definiteness in Icelandic?
The noun borð (“table”) is a neuter noun. In Icelandic, neuter nouns form their definite singular by adding -ið to the base form. So borð becomes borðið to mean "the table." This illustrates that, unlike in English, the definite article is attached to the noun as a suffix, and the ending varies according to the noun’s gender and case.
What is the role of the preposition á in this sentence, and why does the form borðið appear after it?
The preposition á means "on" and indicates location. In this sentence, á borðið tells us where the fish is. Although some Icelandic prepositions can govern either the dative or the accusative case, the neuter noun borð in its definite form has the same ending (-ið) in the nominative/accusative. Context—along with the inherent meanings of the preposition and the verb—is what tells us that the phrase conveys the idea of being on the table.
What is the basic word order of Fiskurinn er á borðið, and what role does each part play?
The sentence follows a straightforward subject–verb–complement order: • Fiskurinn is the subject (meaning "the fish"). • Er is the verb (meaning "is"). • Á borðið is a prepositional phrase that acts as a locative complement, telling us where the fish is.