Questions & Answers about Sófinn er mjúkur, en koddinn er enn mjúkari.
Why are sófinn and koddinn written with –inn at the end?
In Icelandic the definite article (“the”) is not a separate word but a suffix.
- For masculine nominative singular nouns you add –inn.
- Thus sófi (sofa) → sófinn (the sofa), and kodd (pillow) → koddinn (the pillow).
Why does the adjective appear as mjúkur? Doesn’t it have to agree with the noun?
Yes—it’s agreeing in gender, number and case. Here both sófinn and koddinn are masculine singular nominative, so the adjective “soft” takes its masculine nominative singular form mjúkur.
- Feminine would be mjúk (e.g. “stúlkan er mjúk”).
- Neuter would be mjút (e.g. “barnið er mjúkt”).
- Plural would be mjúkir/mjúkar/mjúk depending on gender.
How is the comparative of mjúkur formed? Why mjúkari?
Icelandic typically forms comparatives by adding –ari to the adjective stem:
- Stem mjúk-
- –ari → mjúkari, meaning “softer.”
Does mjúkari change its ending for gender or number?