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Questions & Answers about Liturinn er blár.
What does -inn at the end of Liturinn indicate?
It’s the definite article attached to the noun. litur means “color” and -inn makes it “the color.”
Why is the adjective blár not in the definite form and doesn’t get -inn?
Because it’s used predicatively (after vera, “to be”). Predicate adjectives agree in gender, number and case but never take the definite suffix.
Why does blár end with -r?
Adjectives in Icelandic agree with the noun. Here blár is masculine singular nominative (matching litur), so it takes -r.
What exactly is er?
er is the 3rd person singular present tense of vera (“to be”), i.e., he/she/it is.
What gender is litur, and how do I know that?
litur is a masculine noun. One clue is its ending in -ur, which many masculine nouns share, but gender must ultimately be memorized.