Hún á litla myndavél.

to have

Breakdown of Hún á litla myndavél.

• lítill: small
• hún: she
• myndavélin: the camera

Questions & Answers about Hún á litla myndavél.

What does the verb á mean here, and how can I tell it’s eiga (“to own”) and not the preposition á (“on”)?

Á is the third-person singular present form of eiga (“to own” or “have” in the sense of possession).
You know it’s a verb because:

• It sits between the subject (Hún) and the object (litla myndavél).
• The noun phrase litla myndavél is in the accusative case (objects of verbs).
  The preposition á (“on”) would take the dative case and typically appear before its object, not between subject and object.

Why is there no separate word for “a” before litla myndavél?

Icelandic does not use a separate indefinite article. Instead:

• Indefiniteness is shown by the lack of a definite suffix on the noun (myndavél vs. myndavélin).
• Strong adjective endings (here -a in litla) signal “a/an.”
  Thus litla myndavél literally means “small camera,” but functionally “a small camera.”

Why is the adjective litla and not lítil?

Adjectives in Icelandic agree in gender, number and case:

• Myndavél is feminine singular.
• It’s the direct object, so it’s in the accusative case.
  In the strong declension, the accusative feminine singular ending is -a, turning lítil into : lítil (nom. f.) → litla (acc. f.)