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Glasið er fullt af mjólk, en sykur vantar.

Glasið er fullt af mjólk, en sykur vantar.
The glass is full of milk, but sugar is missing.
FromLesson 9inHardcore Icelandic

Questions & Answers about Glasið er fullt af mjólk, en sykur vantar.

Why does glasið end with -ið, and what does that indicate?

The suffix -ið is the neuter singular definite article in Icelandic.

  • glas (or eitt glas) = “a glass” (indefinite)
  • glasið = “the glass” (definite)
    Because glas is a neuter noun, its definite form takes -ið rather than -inn or -in.
Why is the adjective fullt used here, and why does it have a -t ending?

fullur (“full”) is a three-gender adjective with these singular nominative forms:

  • masculine: fullur
  • feminine: full
  • neuter: fullt
    Since glasið is neuter singular, the adjective must agree in gender and number, giving fullt.
What role does af play in fullt af mjólk, and could I use í or úr instead?

After fullur you use af + dative to express “full of [something].”

  • fullt af mjólk = “full of milk”
    Using í would mean “in” (location) rather than “filled with,” and úr means “out of.” Only af correctly conveys “filled with.”
Why is mjólk not inflected or accompanied by an article here?
mjólk is an uncountable/fuel noun (feminine). In dative singular it remains mjólk (no extra ending). Icelandic doesn’t use an indefinite article (“a”)—you simply use the noun. If you wanted “the milk,” you’d say mjólkin.
Why is sykur without an article, and how would you say “the sugar is missing”?

Here sykur refers to sugar in general (“there is sugar missing”). To make it definite (“the sugar”), add the neuter article suffix -inn:

  • sykur vantar = “sugar is missing”
  • sykurinn vantar = “the sugar is missing”
What kind of verb is vantar, and how does it function in this sentence?

vantar comes from að vanta, a verb expressing lack or absence. It is often used impersonally or with the thing that’s missing as subject.

  • sykur vantar literally “sugar lacks” → “sugar is missing” / “we’re out of sugar.”
Why isn’t there an explicit subject pronoun for vantar, and how would you translate sykur vantar into English?

There’s no pronoun because sykur itself is the grammatical subject of vantar. In English you might say any of:

  • “Sugar is missing.”
  • “There’s no sugar.”
  • “We’re out of sugar.”
What does en mean here? Is it the same as og?

en is the conjunction “but,” used to introduce a contrast.

  • og = “and” (adds information)
  • en = “but” (marks opposition/contrast)
How do you pronounce the letter ð in glasið and the rest of the sentence?
  • ð is a voiced dental fricative [ð], like th in English “this.”
  • glasið ≈ GLAH-sith
  • Full sentence approximation:
    “GLAH-sith er FULLT av MYOHLK, en SY-kur VAN-tar.”
    Stress is normally on the first syllable of each Icelandic word.
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