Pakkinn inniheldur bréf og kort af borginni.

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Breakdown of Pakkinn inniheldur bréf og kort af borginni.

• borgin: the city
• af: of
• pakkinn: the package
• innihalda: to contain
• bréfið: the letter
• kortið: the map

Questions & Answers about Pakkinn inniheldur bréf og kort af borginni.

What is the infinitive (dictionary) form of inniheldur, and how is this verb conjugated in the present tense?

inniheldur is the 3rd person singular present of að innihalda (“to contain”). It’s a compound of the strong verb halda. Present‐tense conjugation looks like this:

Singular
ég inniheld
þú inniheldur
hann/hún/það inniheldur

Plural
við inniheldum
þið inniheldið
þeir/þær/þau innihalda

Past tense and past participle follow the same pattern as halda (e.g. past “innihélt”, past participle “innihaldið”).

Why is there no article before bréf and kort? In English we’d say “the letters” or “the maps.”

In Icelandic, nouns are indefinite by default when unmarked. If you want “some letters” or “some maps,” you just say bréf or kort. To make them definite (“the letters,” “the maps”), you add a suffix (see next question).

How do you form the definite singular and plural of bréf and kort?

Both bréf (“letter”) and kort (“map”) are neuter nouns whose indefinite singular and plural are identical. Their definite forms are:

bréf (indef.)
def. sg: bréfið (“the letter”)
def. pl: bréfin (“the letters”)

kort (indef.)
def. sg: kortið (“the map”)
def. pl: kortin (“the maps”)

How can you tell whether bréf or kort is singular or plural in this sentence?

By context or by adding a numeral/quantifier. For instance:
eitt bréf (“one letter”) vs. tvö bréf (“two letters”)
Without such clues, bréf and kort remain ambiguous between singular and plural.

Why is pakkinn used instead of pakki, and what does the ending -inn indicate?

pakki is a masculine noun meaning “package.” The ending -inn is the definite article suffix for masculine nouns in the nominative singular.
pakki (indef.) = “a package”
pakkinn (def.) = “the package”

What case is borginni, and why does the sentence use af?

af is a preposition that governs the dative case. borgin is “the city” in the nominative; its dative definite form is borginni. So af borginni means “of the city” (literally “from the city” but idiomatically “map(s) of the city”).

Could you express “map of the city” without using af—for example by using the genitive?

Yes. You can put the noun in the genitive and follow with the head noun:
kort borgarinnar (“map of the city”)
Here borgarinnar is the definite genitive of borg. Both kort af borginni and kort borgarinnar translate as “map of the city,” though af borginni is very common for physical maps.