Bókin er áhugaverð.

The book is interesting.

Breakdown of Bókin er áhugaverð.

• vera: to be
• bókin: the book
• áhugaverður: interesting

Questions & Answers about Bókin er áhugaverð.

Why doesn’t the sentence have a separate word for the, and what does the -in on Bókin indicate?

Icelandic marks definiteness with a suffix rather than a separate article. Bókin is made of the stem bók (book) + -in, the definite singular feminine ending. So Bókin literally means “the book” in one word.

What case and gender is Bókin in, and why?

Bókin is feminine singular nominative. It’s the subject of the verb er (“is”), so it takes the nominative case. Since bók is a feminine noun and we’re talking about a single book, it’s singular feminine.

What is er, and how is the verb vera conjugated in the present tense?

Er is the 3rd person singular present of vera (to be). The present-tense forms are:
• ég er (I am)
• þú ert (you are)
• hann/hún/það er (he/she/it is)
• við erum (we are)
• þið eruð (you pl. are)
• þeir/þær/þau eru (they are)

Why does áhugaverð end in -ð, and how does it agree with Bókin?