Questions & Answers about Ég borða kvöldmaturinn.
The suffix -inn is the definite article in Icelandic. Unlike English (the dinner), Icelandic attaches the article to the end of the noun.
- kvöldmatur = “dinner” (indefinite)
- kvöldmatur-inn = “the dinner” (definite)
You drop the -inn suffix:
- kvöldmatur = “(a) dinner” or simply “dinner” without specifying it’s “the” one.
Icelandic nouns have case endings, but masculine nouns in the singular often have the same form for nominative and accusative. Here:
- Nominative sg. (subject): kvöldmatur
- definite -inn → kvöldmaturinn
- Accusative sg. (object): kvöldmatur
- definite -inn → kvöldmaturinn
The only marker you see is the definite suffix -inn.
That’s the present tense 1st person singular ending for this verb class. borða is a strong verb with these present-tense forms:
- ég borða
- þú borðar
- hann/hún/það borðar
- við borðum
- þið borðið
- þeir/þær/þau borða
Icelandic is somewhat pro-drop, but in main clauses you usually include the subject pronoun for clarity and to satisfy the V2 (verb-second) rule. Informally, you might hear:
- Borða kvöldmatinn.
but that feels abrupt. Including ég (“I”) is standard: Ég borða kvöldmaturinn.
Use the past (preterite) form borðaði:
- Ég borðaði kvöldmatinn.
Here borðaði is the 1st person singular past of borða.
Icelandic uses vera + að + infinitive to show an ongoing action:
- Ég er að borða kvöldmatinn.
Literally “I am at eating the dinner.”
Approximate IPA transcription:
/ jɛːɣ ˈpɔrða ˈkʰvœlmaˌtʏrɪn /
Tips:
- ð in borða is a voiced dental fricative [ð].
- The d in kvöld is silent, so you hear something close to [kʰvœl].
- Stress falls on the first syllable of each main word: ÉG BÓRða KVÖLDmaTÚRinn.