Passinn er hér.

to be

Breakdown of Passinn er hér.

• hér: here
• passinn: the passport

Questions & Answers about Passinn er hér.

Why does passinn end in –inn?

In Icelandic the definite article (the) attaches as a suffix to the noun rather than standing alone. The base word is passi (passport). To make it definite you add –inn (masculine nominative singular), giving passinn (the passport).

What case and gender is passinn in?

Passinn is masculine and in the nominative case because it functions as the subject of the sentence.

Why is er used here, and what form is it?

Er is the present tense, 3rd person singular form of the verb vera (to be). It corresponds to English is in The passport is here.

Why is hér placed after the verb?

Icelandic generally follows a V2 (verb-second) word order. With passinn as the first element, the verb er comes second, and then the adverb hér (‘here’) follows.

Could I instead say Hér er passinn?