Heimilið er hreint og hlýtt.

to be

Breakdown of Heimilið er hreint og hlýtt.

• og: and
• hreint: clean
• hlýtt: warm

Questions & Answers about Heimilið er hreint og hlýtt.

What does the ending in Heimilið mean?

The final -ið is the suffixed definite article, so heimilið means “the home.” In Icelandic, “the” is attached to the end of the noun:

• masculine: -inn (e.g., drengurinn “the boy”)
• feminine: -in (e.g., bókin “the book”)
• neuter: -ið (e.g., heimilið “the home”)

What gender is heimili, and why does it matter here?

Heimili is a neuter noun. That matters because adjectives must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case. Since the subject is neuter singular nominative, the predicate adjectives are also neuter singular nominative: hreint, hlýtt.

Why do the adjectives end in -t (hreint, hlýtt)?

Predicate adjectives after “to be” (vera) agree with the subject. The neuter singular nominative ending for strong adjectives is -t, hence hreint (from hreinn) and hlýtt (from hlýr).

Why is it hreinT but hlýTT? Why two different spellings?

It’s due to regular sound/spelling patterns when forming the neuter: