Breakdown of Hann fer inn í herbergið og lokar hurðinni.
fara
to go
hann
he
og
and
hurðin
the door
loka
to close
inn í
into
herbergið
the room
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Questions & Answers about Hann fer inn í herbergið og lokar hurðinni.
Why is herbergið in the accusative case, and what role does inn í play here?
• The phrase inn í expresses motion into something. In Icelandic, when you use í (‘into’), you put the noun in the accusative to show direction.
• herbergið is the neuter-singular definite accusative form of herbergi (‘a room’).
What does the -ið ending in herbergið indicate?
Icelandic marks the definite article as a suffix. For neuter singular nouns, the article is -ið. So herbergi (‘a room’) becomes herbergið (‘the room’).
Why is hurðinni in the dative case instead of the accusative?
The verb loka (‘to close, shut’) in Icelandic takes its object in the dative case. Therefore hurð (‘door’) becomes hurðinni, the feminine-singular definite dative.
What does the -inni suffix in hurðinni consist of?
The ending -inni combines two elements:
• -in = feminine-singular definite article
• -ni = dative-case marker
Together they form hurð-inni, “the door” in the dative.
Could you omit inn and simply say Hann fer í herbergið?
Yes. Hann fer í herbergið is perfectly correct and means the same. Adding inn (‘in’) before í emphasizes that you actually step inside; without inn, it’s a bit more neutral.
How are the verbs fara (‘to go’) and loka (‘to close’) conjugated in present and past?
• fara (‘to go’):
– Present: fer
– Past: fór
– Past participle: farið
• loka (‘to close, shut’):
– Present: lokar
– Past: lokaði
– Past participle: lokað
How do you pronounce the letter ð, and where is the stress in words like herbergið and hurðinni?
• ð is a voiced dental fricative, like the “th” in English this.
• Icelandic stress always falls on the first syllable: HER-ber-gið, HURÐ-in-ni.