Síminn er bilaður.

to be

Breakdown of Síminn er bilaður.

• bilaður: broken
• síminn: the phone

Questions & Answers about Síminn er bilaður.

Why does it say Síminn and not just sími?

Icelandic often shows definiteness by adding a suffix to the noun. sími means “phone,” while síminn means “the phone.” The definite article for masculine nouns is -inn, which attaches to the end: sími + inn → síminn. There is no separate word for “the” in this case.

Could I say Sími er bilaður?

Grammatically yes, but it would mean “A phone is broken” (indefinite) and sounds odd out of context. In normal conversation you almost always mean a particular phone, so you’d say Síminn er bilaður (“The phone is broken”).

What gender is sími, and how does that affect bilaður?

sími is masculine. In Icelandic, adjectives agree with the noun’s gender, number, and case. Since síminn is masculine nominative singular (as the subject), the adjective is masculine nominative singular: bilaður. Compare:

• Masculine: Síminn er bilaður.
• Feminine: Tölvan er biluð. (“The computer is broken.”)
• Neuter: Tækið er bilað. (“The device is broken.”)

Why is the adjective ending -ur and not something else?

In predicative position (after “to be”), adjectives take the strong ending in nominative. For masculine singular, that ending is : . With a definite attributive noun (before the noun), the adjective uses weak endings: (“the broken phone”).