Breakdown of Skólinn er miklu stærri en húsið.
vera
to be
húsið
the house
skólinn
the school
en
than
stærri
bigger
mikill
much
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Questions & Answers about Skólinn er miklu stærri en húsið.
What does miklu mean here and why isn’t it just mikill?
miklu is the adverbial form of mikill (‘big, much’) and functions like English much in “much bigger.” In Icelandic, adverbs derived from adjectives often take a special ending (historically the neuter dative), so the adjective stem mikill becomes miklu when used to intensify a comparative.
Why is it stærri and not stærra?
Comparative adjectives in Icelandic agree with the gender and number of the noun they describe. Skólinn is masculine singular nominative, so its comparative form is stærri. Stærra would be the neuter form (e.g. for húsið).
Why are both skólinn and húsið in the nominative case?
The verb er (‘is’) is a copula, and its subject and predicate noun/adjective remain in the nominative. In constructions with en (‘than’), you compare two nominative noun phrases; no case shift occurs.
Can I use mun instead of miklu, as in “Skólinn er mun stærri en húsið”?
Yes. mun is another adverb that intensifies a comparative, often translated as “by far.” Both er miklu stærri and er mun stærri are correct; miklu comes from mikill, while mun is a general comparative marker.
How do you form comparatives in Icelandic?
Most adjectives form the comparative by adding -ri (m/f), -ra (n), or -ri (pl) to the stem. Some change the stem slightly: for example, stór → stærri. So you get:
stór (big) → stærri (bigger, m/f) → stærra (bigger, n)
Why do we use en for “than” instead of another word?
en is the Icelandic conjunction used in comparisons to mean than. It links the two items you’re comparing: “A is bigger than B” → “A er stærri en B.”
What is the word order in “Skólinn er miklu stærri en húsið”?
Icelandic follows the V2 rule: the finite verb must be second. Here the order is
1. Subject (Skólinn)
2. Verb (er)
3. Predicate (miklu stærri)
4. Comparison phrase (en húsið)
Why don’t we use a separate word for “the” before skólinn and húsið?
Icelandic marks definiteness with a suffix on the noun.
• skóli (school) → skólinn (the school)
• hús (house) → húsið (the house)
There’s no separate article word like English the in front.