Questions & Answers about Veturinn byrjar snemma í ár.
Why is veturinn used instead of vetur?
In Icelandic the definite article is a suffix rather than a separate word. Vetur means “winter” in general (indefinite), while veturinn means “the winter” (definite). Here we refer to this specific winter, so we use the definite form veturinn.
What case and number is veturinn in this sentence?
Veturinn is masculine nominative singular. It’s in the nominative because it functions as the subject of the sentence, and singular because we’re talking about one winter.
How is the verb byrjar formed and what does it mean?
Byrjar is the 3rd person singular present indicative of the verb að byrja, which means “to begin” or “to start.” The present-tense conjugation of að byrja is:
ég byrja (I begin)
þú byrjar (you begin)
hann/hún byrjar (he/she begins)
við byrjum (we begin)
þið byrjið (you all begin)
þeir/þær/þau byrja (they begin)
What does snemma mean, and why does it come after the verb?
Snemma is an adverb meaning “early.” In Icelandic, adverbs of time (and manner) typically follow the verb, so byrjar snemma translates as “begins early.”