Ég sendi tölvupóst á hverjum morgni.

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Breakdown of Ég sendi tölvupóst á hverjum morgni.

• senda: to send
• tölvupósturinn: the email
• á hverjum morgni: every morning

Questions & Answers about Ég sendi tölvupóst á hverjum morgni.

Why is tölvupóst used here instead of tölvupóstur, and what case is it in?

tölvupóstur is the dictionary (nominative) form meaning “computer mail” (i.e. “email”). In your sentence it functions as the direct object of the verb senda, so it takes the accusative singular. In the accusative the masculine noun tölvupóstur drops its -ur ending and becomes tölvupóst.

Why isn’t there an article like “a” or “an” before tölvupóst?

Icelandic has no indefinite articles (“a/an”). You simply use the noun in its bare form (with the correct case ending) to express indefiniteness. If you really wanted “one email,” you could say einn tölvupóst, but for a habitual “I send email,” you omit any article or numeral.

Why is á hverjum morgni in the dative case (hverjum morgni) rather than nominative?

The preposition á when used to talk about time (like “on every morning”) governs the dative case. That’s why both words shift to dative singular: hver → hverjum, morgun → morgni.

What does hverjum mean, and why is it inflected that way?

hver means “each” or “every.” Because it appears in a dative construction (with á), it takes the dative singular ending -jum: hverjum. It must agree in case (dative) with the preposition.

Could I say hvern morgun or um morgnana instead of á hverjum morgni, and what’s the difference?

Yes. Icelandic offers several ways to say “every morning”:

• hvern morgun uses no preposition and puts hvern in the accusative.
• um morgnana combines um
  • the definite plural (morgnar → morgnana).
• á hverjum morgni (your version) is preposition + dative singular. All three are common and idiomatic; choice is mostly a matter of style or dialect.

Can I move á hverjum morgni to the front of the sentence? Why does the verb then come before the subject?

Yes. Icelandic main clauses follow a V2 (verb-second) rule. If you start with an adverbial like Á hverjum morgni, the verb must stay in second position, pushing the subject after it: “Á hverjum morgni sendi ég tölvupóst.”

How do I make this sentence negative?

Insert ekki immediately after the finite verb. The rest of the sentence stays in place: “Ég sendi ekki tölvupóst á hverjum morgni.”
(= “I don’t send an email every morning.”)

Can I omit ég and just say Sendi tölvupóst á hverjum morgni?

Icelandic is technically a pro-drop language, so you can leave out the pronoun if context is clear. However, dropping ég is unusual in everyday speech unless you’re writing notes or headlines. In normal conversation you’d keep ég.