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Questions & Answers about Vaskurinn er í eldhúsinu.
Why does vaskurinn end with -inn?
In Icelandic, the definite article is not a separate word like the in English but a suffix attached to the noun. For masculine singular nouns in the nominative (the subject form), the definite suffix is -inn. So the indefinite noun vaskur (sink) becomes vaskurinn (the sink).
Why is eldhúsinu in the dative case?
The preposition í (in/inside) governs the dative case when it denotes a static location—answering the question “where?” Since the sink is located inside the kitchen, eldhús (kitchen) takes the dative singular definite form eldhúsinu.
How is eldhúsinu formed from eldhús?
eldhús is a neuter, strong noun. You form its dative singular indefinite by adding -i:
eldhús → eldhúsi
To make it definite, you then add the suffix -nu (or think of it as the full definite dative ending -inu) to the stem:
eldhúsi + nu → eldhúsinu
Why use í here, and not á, and why dative rather than accusative?
- í means “in/inside.” When í expresses a static location (where something is), it takes the dative case.
- á generally means “on/at” and also takes the dative for location on a surface or at an event (e.g. á borðinu, on the table).
- For movement into a space, í would take the accusative (e.g. ég fer í eldhúsið, “I’m going into the kitchen”). But to state where something already is, we use í eldhúsinu with the dative.
Can I change the word order to Í eldhúsinu er vaskurinn?
Yes. Icelandic is a V2 language, so the finite verb (er) must stand in the second position, but you can front another element (like í eldhúsinu). Í eldhúsinu er vaskurinn (“In the kitchen is the sink”) is grammatically correct; it simply shifts focus to the location.
How would you say A sink is in a kitchen (indefinite)?
Use the indefinite forms of both nouns:
Vaskur er í eldhúsi.
Here vaskur is the indefinite nominative (a sink) and eldhúsi is the indefinite dative (in a kitchen).