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Questions & Answers about Nótt er falleg.
What is the structure of the sentence "Nótt er falleg."?
The sentence is composed of three parts: Nótt is the noun (meaning night and functioning as the subject), er is the copula (the third person singular present tense of vera, meaning is), and falleg is the predicate adjective (meaning beautiful).
Why does the adjective falleg appear without an ending even though it describes nótt?
In Icelandic, adjectives used in a predicative position (after the verb) remain in their base or uninflected form. Although adjectives show gender, number, and case agreement when used attributively (before a noun), when they follow the copula—as in this sentence—they do not take extra endings.
Why is there no article (like "a" or "the") before nótt?
Icelandic does not use standalone indefinite articles. Instead, definiteness is indicated by a suffix added to the noun. In this sentence, nótt is in its indefinite form; if one wanted to express “the night,” it would be written as nóttin.
How does the word order in "Nótt er falleg." compare to that of English?
The sentence follows a simple Subject-Verb-Predicate adjective structure, just as in English. Nótt (night) is the subject, er (is) is the verb, and falleg (beautiful) is the predicate adjective—mirroring the English sentence "Night is beautiful."
How would the adjective change if it were used attributively instead of predicatively?
When an adjective is used attributively (directly modifying a noun), it must take on an ending that agrees with the noun’s gender, number, and case. For example, while the predicative form is falleg, in an attributive context you might see a form like falleg nótt (for an indefinite noun) or, if referring to a definite noun, fallega nóttin—with the specific ending depending on whether a strong or weak declension is required.
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