Bókavörðurinn lokar bókasafninu seint á kvöldin.

the evening

Breakdown of Bókavörðurinn lokar bókasafninu seint á kvöldin.

• loka: to close
• bókasafn: the library
• seint: late

Questions & Answers about Bókavörðurinn lokar bókasafninu seint á kvöldin.

What is the most natural English translation of the sentence?

The sentence Bókavörðurinn lokar bókasafninu seint á kvöldin can be translated as:
“The librarian closes the library late at night.”
You could also render it as “The librarian closes the library late in the evenings,” to emphasize the habitual nature.

How is bókavörðurinn built up and what does each element mean?

bókavörðurinn breaks down into:

• bóka- – the combining form of bók (“book,” genitive plural in compounds)
• vörður – “warden,” “guard,” or “keeper”
• -inn – the definite article suffix for masculine nominative singular (“the”)

So literally “book-warden-the,” i.e. the librarian.

Why is bókasafninu in the dative case rather than the accusative?

In Icelandic, the verb loka (“to close”) takes a definite direct object in the dative. Because bókasafninu is the library (definite), it appears in dative singular. If you opened or closed something specific, Icelandic often uses dative for that object.

What case would you use if you meant “a library” instead of “the library”?