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Miðinn kostar ekki mikið.

Miðinn kostar ekki mikið.
The ticket does not cost much.
FromLesson 8inHardcore Icelandic

Breakdown of Miðinn kostar ekki mikið.

ekki
not
miðinn
the ticket
kosta
to cost
mikið
much

Questions & Answers about Miðinn kostar ekki mikið.

Why does miðinn end with -inn, and how would you say “a ticket” instead?

In Icelandic the definite article is not a separate word but a suffix.

  • miðinn = miði (ticket) + -inn (the) = “the ticket.”
    To say “a ticket,” use the indefinite nominative singular miði.
What case and number is miðinn, and how do you know?

miðinn is masculine, nominative singular.

  • It’s the subject of the verb kostar (“costs”), so it stands in the nominative.
  • The -inn ending signals both definiteness and that it’s singular.
What is the infinitive behind kostar, and what tense and person is kostar?

The infinitive is að kosta (“to cost”).
kostar is the present tense, 3rd person singular form:

  • ég kosta (I cost)
  • þú kastar (you cost)
  • hann/hún/það kostar (he/she/it costs)
Why does ekki (“not”) come after kostar instead of before it?

In Icelandic main clauses, the negation ekki normally follows the finite verb.
Word order here is: Subject – Verb – ekki – Adverbial.
Putting ekki before kostar (e.g. ekki kostar miðinn) would sound ungrammatical.

What part of speech is mikið here, and why doesn’t it change form?

Here mikið is an adverb meaning “much.”

  • As an adverb it is indeclinable (it does not take gender, number, or case endings).
  • If you used mikill as an adjective (e.g. modifying a noun), it would change (mikill/mikil/mikið etc.).
Could I use an adjective like dýr (“expensive”) instead of kostar ekki mikið? How?

Yes, you can talk about something being expensive rather than costing much. Examples:

  • Miðinn er ekki dýr. (“The ticket is not expensive.”)
  • Miðinn er ekki mjög dýr. (“The ticket isn’t very expensive.”)
    But when talking about price, kostar ekki mikið is by far the more natural expression.
How do I ask “How much does the ticket cost?” in Icelandic?

Use the question word hvað (“what/how much”) plus the verb and subject:
Hvað kostar miðinn?
Literally: “What costs the ticket?” → “How much does the ticket cost?”

How would I answer “It costs 500 krónur” using the same structure?

You can simply replace ekki mikið with the actual amount, e.g.:
Miðinn kostar fimm hundruð krónur.
(“The ticket costs five hundred krónur.”)

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