Flugvöllurinn er langt frá borginni.

to be

Breakdown of Flugvöllurinn er langt frá borginni.

• borgin: the city
• flugvöllurinn: the airport
• langt: far

Questions & Answers about Flugvöllurinn er langt frá borginni.

Why does Flugvöllurinn end with -inn?

This is how Icelandic marks the definite article. Instead of placing “the” before the noun, Icelandic attaches it as a suffix.
• Flugvöllur = “airport” (indefinite)
• Flugvöllurinn = “the airport” (definite)

What part of speech is er, and how is it used here?

Er is the present tense form of the verb vera (“to be”). In this sentence it functions as the copula, linking the subject (Flugvöllurinn) with the predicate (“far from the city”).

Why is langt used instead of langur, which I thought means “long” or “far”?

In the phrase vera langt frá (“to be far from”), langt is actually the neuter singular form used adverbially. Think of it as a fixed expression meaning “far.” When you use langur attributively (before a noun), you’d adjust gender, number and case—this isn’t that situation.

What case does the preposition frá require, and why is borginni in that form?

Frá always takes the dative case. The noun borg (“city”) in the dative singular definite form becomes borginni.Declension at a glance for : – Nominative ind.: – Nominative def.: – Dative def.: