Questions & Answers about Ég fer í þorpið.
What does the preposition í mean in Ég fer í þorpið, and why does it take the accusative case here?
In Icelandic, í can mean both in/inside and to/into, depending on context:
- When indicating location (static), í takes the dative: Ég er í þorpinu (I am in the village).
- When indicating movement or direction, í takes the accusative: Ég fer í þorpið (I go/I'm going to the village).
Why is the definite article not a separate word like in English, but attached to þorp as -ið?
Icelandic forms the definite article as a suffix on nouns. Þorp is a neuter noun. Its definite singular form in both nominative and accusative is þorpið (stem þorp + definite suffix -ið).
How can I tell that þorpið is in the accusative case and not the nominative?
Neuter nouns have the same form for nominative and accusative in the singular, so þorpið looks identical whether it’s subject or object. You know it’s accusative here because:
1) Ég is the subject in the nominative.
2) The preposition í (with movement) requires the accusative.
What is the present-tense conjugation of the irregular verb fara (to go)?