Breakdown of Ég fer í garðinn snemma á morgnana.
ég
I
fara
to go
á
in
í
into
garðinn
the garden
snemma
early
morguninn
the morning
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Questions & Answers about Ég fer í garðinn snemma á morgnana.
Why does garðinn end in -inn?
In Icelandic, the definite article is a suffix. garður means “garden,” and garðurinn means “the garden.” The -inn is the masculine singular definite article. Because you’re going into the garden, the noun also takes the accusative case, but the form garðinn looks the same for both nominative and accusative.
Why is í followed by the accusative here instead of the dative?
The preposition í governs:
- accusative when it indicates movement into something (I go into the garden → í garðinn).
- dative when it indicates location in something (I am in the garden → í garðinum).
What exactly is snemma, and can I move it around in the sentence?
snemma is an adverb meaning early. Icelandic word order is flexible:
- Standard: Ég fer í garðinn snemma á morgnana.
- Emphasis on time: Snemma á morgnana fer ég í garðinn.
- Closer to verb: Ég fer snemma í garðinn á morgnana.
All are grammatically correct; the shifts just change the emphasis.
Why is it á morgnana and not á morgun?
- á morgun (singular) means tomorrow or on the morning (once).
- á morgnana (plural genitive) means in the mornings (repeated action).
Since the sentence describes a habitual action, you use the plural time expression.
What case is morgnana, and why that case?
Time expressions with á usually take the genitive.
- morgnar (nominative plural) → genitive plural morgnanna (colloquially written morgnana).
So á morgnana = on the mornings = in the mornings.
Can I drop the subject Ég since the verb fer already shows first person singular?
Technically you could, because verbs are conjugated. But in modern Icelandic, subjects are usually stated for clarity and style. Dropping Ég tends to sound poetic or very informal.
Why not use til garðs instead of í garðinn?
- til
- genitive (til garðs) often implies direction towards or to the edge of something, not into it.
- í
- accusative (í garðinn) clearly means entering the garden.
Is the word order in Icelandic always Subject-Verb-Object-Time like in English?
No, Icelandic allows you to move elements around quite freely. A neutral order is S-V-O-T, but time or place phrases can come first for emphasis, after the verb, or even between verb and object, without breaking the grammar.