Brauðið er heitt.

to be

Breakdown of Brauðið er heitt.

• brauðið: the bread
• heitt: hot

Questions & Answers about Brauðið er heitt.

Which part of the sentence means “the”?

Icelandic puts the definite article on the end of the noun. Here, brauð (bread) + the neuter definite ending -ið gives brauðið = “the bread.”

• Masculine: -inn (e.g., hestur → hesturinn)
• Feminine: -in (e.g., bók → bókin)
• Neuter: -ið (e.g., brauð → brauðið)

Why is it heitt, not heitur or heit?

Because brauð is a neuter noun. After the verb er (is), adjectives are in the nominative and agree in gender and number with the subject:

• Masculine: heitur
• Feminine: heit
• Neuter: heitt So: Brauðið (neuter singular) er heitt.

Do adjectives after “to be” use the weak endings since the noun is definite?

No. Predicate adjectives (after er, “to be”) take the strong endings, even if the subject is definite: Brauðið er heitt.
Weak endings appear when the adjective directly modifies a definite noun: hita brauðið = “the hot bread” (weak neuter singular: hita).

I see heita elsewhere—does that mean “hot”?