Hún býr í kjallaranum.

She lives in the basement.

Breakdown of Hún býr í kjallaranum.

• hún: she
• í: in
• búa: to live
• kjallarinn: the basement

Questions & Answers about Hún býr í kjallaranum.

What is the base form of býr, and what does it mean?

býr is the third person singular present indicative of the verb búa, which means “to live” or “to reside.”
Conjugation of búa in the present tense:

• ég bý (I live)
• þú býrð (you live)
• hann/hún/það býr (he/she/it lives)
• við búum (we live)
• þið búið (you pl. live)
• þeir/þær/þau búa (they live)

Why is the noun kjallaranum in the dative case?

The preposition í when expressing location (where someone is) governs the dative case in Icelandic. Since kjallari (basement) is the object of í, it must appear in the dative:

• nominative: kjallari
• dative: kjallaranum

How is the definite article expressed in kjallaranum?

Icelandic uses suffixes instead of separate words for the definite article. For a masculine noun like kjallari in the dative singular, you add -inum (from -inn in the nominative). So:
kjallari + ­inn → kjallari n → kjallaranum

Can you omit the subject pronoun Hún in this sentence?

Sometimes you can, because Icelandic verbs clearly mark person and number. However,

• “býr” alone could be hann, hún or það.
• Omitting Hún makes the sentence ambiguous: Býr í kjallaranum could mean “He/She/It lives in the basement.”
• Use Hún when you need to specify that it is “she.”

Could you change the word order for emphasis?

Yes. Icelandic is a V2 language (verb-second). You could front the locative phrase to emphasize place:

• Í kjallaranum býr hún. (“In the basement she lives.”)
  This stresses where she lives.

How do you pronounce kjallaranum?

Phonetic approximation in English: “CHYAT-lah-RAH-num”

• kj = a soft “ch(y)” sound (like ji in “jeep,” but palatalized)
• ll = a voiceless lateral fricative (similar to Welsh “ll”)
• Stress on the second syllable: kjall​a​RA​num

What is the gender of kjallari, and how can you tell?

kjallari is a masculine noun. Clues:

• It ends in -i in the nominative singular, a common masculine pattern.
• In dictionaries you’ll see it marked “kk” (karlkyn).
• Its article/ending patterns (kk: kjallari, kjallarans, kjallaranum, kjallari) match masculine declension.