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Questions & Answers about Morguninn er kaldur.
Why does morguninn end with -inn? What does this ending do?
In Icelandic there is no separate word for the. Instead the definite article attaches to the noun as a suffix. Morgun means morning in general, and adding -inn makes it definite: morguninn = the morning.
What gender and case is morguninn, and why is the adjective kaldur in that form?
Icelandic nouns have gender, number and case. Morguninn is masculine singular nominative because it’s the subject of the sentence. Adjectives must agree in gender, number and case with the noun they modify. Kaldur is the masculine singular nominative form of cold, so it matches morguninn exactly.
Why is er used here, and what tense is it?
Er is the present-tense form of vera, the verb to be. It expresses that the morning currently is cold.
Why does the sentence read Morguninn er kaldur instead of Er morguninn kaldur?
Icelandic follows the V2 rule: the finite verb must be the second element in a main clause. When you start with the subject (Morguninn), the verb er naturally comes second, giving Subject – Verb – Complement order. If you front another element, the verb still stays in second position (e.g. Í dag er morguninn kaldur = Today the morning is cold).
How would you say the morning was cold?
Use the past tense of vera. Change er to var:
Morguninn var kaldur.
How do you express a cold morning in Icelandic?
Indefinite nouns lack the suffix -inn and adjectives precede them. Remove -inn from morguninn and place kaldur before it, yielding kaldur morgun, literally cold morning, which implies a cold morning.
If the subject were a feminine noun like nóttin, how would you adjust the adjective?
Adjectives agree in gender, number and case. The feminine singular nominative form of cold is köld, so you’d say
Nóttin er köld = the night is cold.
How do you turn this into a yes/no question: Is the morning cold?
Invert the verb and subject so the verb comes first. You get:
Er morguninn kaldur?