Vinurinn mætir síðastur.

The friend arrives last.

Breakdown of Vinurinn mætir síðastur.

• vinurinn: the friend
• mæta: to arrive
• síðastur: last

Questions & Answers about Vinurinn mætir síðastur.

What does the suffix –inn in vinurinn indicate?

The suffix –inn is the definite article in Icelandic. Instead of a separate word like “the,” Icelandic tacks –inn onto masculine nouns. So vinur means “(a) friend” and vinurinn means “the friend.”

Why is síðastur used here instead of síðast?

There are two related forms:

• síðast is the adverb “last(ly).”
• síðastur is the strong, masculine nominative singular superlative adjective “last one.”

In Vinurinn mætir síðastur the word is a predicate adjective agreeing with “vinurinn,” so you use the strong adjective form síðastur. If you treated it purely as an adverb (“arrives last”) you could say Vinurinn mætir síðast instead.

Why does síðastur end in –ur rather than –i?

Adjectives in Icelandic have a strong and a weak declension.

• The strong form (síðastur) is used when the adjective stands alone or after a verb (predicatively).
• The weak form (síðasti) is used attributively with a definite noun: e.g. síðasti vinurinn (“the last friend”).

Since síðastur follows the verb as a predicate, you choose the strong ending –ur (masculine nominative singular).

Why is síðastur in the masculine form here?

In predicative position an adjective agrees with its subject in gender, number and case. Vinurinn is masculine singular nominative, so the adjective must also be masculine singular nominative: síðastur.

What is mætir, and why is it used instead of kemur?

mætir is the 3rd person singular present of mæta, meaning “to show up,” “to attend” or “to arrive” at an event or appointment. You could also use koma (“to come/arrive”), so Vinurinn kemur síðastur is perfectly natural if you simply want “The friend arrives last” in a general sense.

How important is word order in Vinurinn mætir síðastur?

Icelandic follows the V2 rule: the finite verb must be in second position. Here the subject vinurinn is first, the verb mætir is second, and the predicate síðastur comes after. If you front another element you still keep the verb in slot 2. For example:
“Síðastur mætir vinurinn” (“Last of all, the friend shows up”).

How would you ask “Who arrives last?” in Icelandic?

You could use the adverb síðast or the adjective síðastur in a question:

• Hver mætir síðast?
• Hver mætir síðastur?

Both are understood as “Who arrives last?” The adverbial question is slightly more common.

How would you change the sentence if the subject were neuter or feminine?

You must adjust the adjective to match gender:

• Neuter subject (e.g. barnið “the child”):
  Barnið mætir síðast.
  Here the neuter strong superlative is síðast, identical to the adverb.

• Feminine subject (e.g. kona “the woman” → konan “the woman”):
  Konan mætir síðust.
  Feminine nominative strong superlative ends in –ust.

How do you pronounce Vinurinn mætir síðastur?

A close phonetic rendering is:
VEE-nuhr-rin MY-tir SEE-thas-tur
In IPA you might see something like:
/ˈviːnʏrtn̥ ˈmai̯tɪr ˈsiːða.stʏr/