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Sólin skín bjart í dag.

Sólin skín bjart í dag.
The sun shines brightly today.

Breakdown of Sólin skín bjart í dag.

sólin
the sun
skína
to shine
bjartur
bright
í dag
today
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Questions & Answers about Sólin skín bjart í dag.

Why is Sól written as Sólin? What does the -in ending mean?

In Icelandic the definite article is a suffix, not a separate word.

  • Sól = “sun” (indefinite)
  • Sólin = “the sun” (definite)

So -in at the end marks the noun as definite.

Why is the first letter capitalized in Sólin?
Icelandic does not capitalize common nouns in mid‐sentence. Here Sólin is capitalized simply because it’s the first word of the sentence. If you wrote it elsewhere, you’d use sólin.
What is the form skín, and how does the verb að skína conjugate in the present tense?

skín is the third person singular present of að skína (“to shine”). Present‐tense conjugation:

• ég skína
• þú skínir
• hann/hún/það skín
• við skinum
• þið skínið
• þeir/þær/þau skína

So skín = “(it) shines.”

Why is it bjart and not another form like björt or bjartur?

Bjart here functions as an adverb (“brightly”). In Icelandic you often use the neuter adjective form as an adverb without change.

  • Adjective (neuter) = bjart
  • Adverb = bjart (“brightly”)

If you wanted the adjective “bright” to match a feminine noun, it would be björt, but that’s not needed when you’re describing how something shines.

Why is í dag written as two words? Could it ever be one?
Í dag literally means “in day” = “today.” Icelandic keeps the preposition í (“in”) and dag (“day”) separate. It’s always two words, never one.
What case is dag in after í, and why isn’t there an article?
When í expresses time (“in/at”), the noun that follows is in the accusative case without a definite article. So dag stands alone in the accusative singular to mean “day” in this time expression.
How do you pronounce Sólin skín bjart í dag?

A rough phonetic guide:
• ó = long “o” /oː/ → “SOH”
• sólin → “SOH-lin”
• skín → “SKEEN” (/iː/)
• bjart → “BY-art” (/a/ like the ‘a’ in “father”)
• í = long “ee” /iː/ → “EE”
• dag → “DAHG” (/a/ similar to ‘a’ in “father,” final g is a voiced /g/)

Put it all together: “SOH-lin skeen BY-art ee DAHG.”