Ég á átta penna.

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Breakdown of Ég á átta penna.

• eiga: to have
• penninn: the pen
• átta: eight

Questions & Answers about Ég á átta penna.

Why does this sentence use the verb á (from eiga) instead of hafa to say “have”?

In Icelandic, eiga (present: á) is the normal verb for expressing ownership or possession.

• hafa is used as an auxiliary verb (“have done something”) or for more abstract senses of “have” (e.g. “to hold inside,” or “to have to” when paired with að).
• To say “I have pens” in the sense “I own pens,” you always use ég á penna, not ég hef penna.

Why is the pronoun ég necessary here? Can it be dropped?

The form á is formally identical for both 1st person singular (“I own”) and 3rd person singular (“he/she/it owns”). Because of that ambiguity, Icelandic speakers normally include ég (“I”) to make clear who the subject is.

• Unlike some other verbs whose endings differ for 1st vs. 3rd person, á does not, so the pronoun stays.

Why is the noun penni in the form penna and not penni, penna, or penna with a different case?

penni (“pen”) is a masculine i-stem noun. Its principal forms are:
• Singular: N penni, A penna, D penna, G penna
• Plural: N penna, A penna, D pennum, G penna

In Ég á átta penna the noun is the direct object of á, so it must be in the accusative. The accusative plural of penni is penna. That same form also appears as genitive singular, nominative plural and genitive plural, which can be confusing—here it’s the plural accusative.