Kvittunin er í veskinu.

to be

Breakdown of Kvittunin er í veskinu.

• í: in
• veskið: the wallet
• kvittunin: the receipt

Questions & Answers about Kvittunin er í veskinu.

What does each word do in the sentence?

• Kvittunin: a feminine noun in nominative singular, definite; means the receipt. Base form: kvittun; definite ending: -in.
• er: present tense of vera (to be), 3rd person singular; means is.
• í: preposition meaning in; with location it governs the dative case.
• veskinu: neuter noun in dative singular, definite; means the wallet (here: in the wallet). Base form: veski; definite dative ending: -nu.

Why does kvittun become kvittunin?

Icelandic adds the definite article as a suffix. For most feminine nouns in nominative singular, the definite ending is -in. So kvittun + -in → kvittunin (the receipt). Because the stem already ends in -n, you see -nin at the end.

Why is it í veskinu and not í veskið?

Because í takes the dative for static location. Veskið is nominative/accusative definite; veskinu is dative definite. Since the receipt is located in the wallet (no movement), dative is required: í veskinu.

Which case does í take, and when?

• Location (in/on at rest): dative. Example: Kvittunin er í veskinu (The receipt is in the wallet).
• Motion (into/onto): accusative. Example: Ég setti kvittunina í veskið (I put the receipt into the wallet).

What are the genders of kvittun and veski, and why does that matter?

• kvittun is feminine, so you refer to it with hún (she/it).
• veski is neuter. This affects pronouns and agreement. For example: Hún er í veskinu (It is in the wallet).

How do I say “It’s in my wallet”?

• Hún er í veskinu mínu. Here hún refers to kvittunin (feminine). Mínu is the dative neuter singular form of minn (my), agreeing with veski in dative: veskinu mínu.

Can I front the place phrase for emphasis?

Yes. Icelandic is a V2 language, so the verb stays in second position:

• Í veskinu er kvittunin. (In the wallet is the receipt.) This is natural in answers to a where-question or for emphasis/contrast.

How do you pronounce the tricky bits?

• kvittunin ≈ [kʰvɪhtʏnɪn] (the double tt is pre-aspirated, sounding like an h before t).
• er ≈ [ɛr].
• í ≈ [i] (like English ee).
• veskinu ≈ [vɛscɪnʏ] (the sk before front vowels sounds like an s followed by a soft k/y sound).

What’s the plural of kvittun?

Plural nominative is kvittanir, and the definite plural is kvittanirnar.

• Kvittanirnar eru í veskinu. (The receipts are in the wallet.)

Is kvittun the same as reikningur?

No.

• kvittun = receipt, proof of payment you get after paying.
• reikningur = bill/invoice, a request for payment you receive before paying (or the check at a restaurant).

How do I negate it?

Place ekki after the verb:

• Kvittunin er ekki í veskinu. (The receipt is not in the wallet.)

How do I ask “Where is the receipt?”

• Hvar er kvittunin? Follow-up with a pronoun is also fine:
• Hvar er hún? (Where is it? — referring to the feminine kvittun)

If I add an adjective, how does it change?

With a definite noun, adjectives take the weak form:

• Gamla kvittunin er í veskinu. (The old receipt is in the wallet.) Indefinite (no article) uses the strong form:
• Gömul kvittun er í veskinu. (An old receipt is in the wallet.)

How do I say “There is a receipt in the wallet”?

Use the existential Það er + an indefinite noun:

• Það er kvittun í veskinu. Icelandic has no separate word for a/an; indefiniteness is shown by leaving off the definite suffix.