Tómatar eru ferskir í dag.

to be

Breakdown of Tómatar eru ferskir í dag.

• í dag: today
• ferskur: fresh
• tómatur: the tomato

Questions & Answers about Tómatar eru ferskir í dag.

Why is it ferskir and not ferskt or ferskar?

Because adjectives agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

• Tómatar is masculine plural in the nominative case (subject).
• The predicate adjective after vera (to be) also appears in the nominative.
• Masculine nominative plural of ferskur is ferskir. Other nominative forms for contrast:
• Masculine: ferskir (pl), ferskur (sg)
• Feminine: ferskar (pl), fersk (sg)
• Neuter: fersk (pl), ferskt (sg)

Why is it eru and not er?

Tómatar is plural, so you need the 3rd person plural of vera (to be). Present tense of vera:

• ég er
• þú ert
• hann/hún/það er
• við erum
• þið eruð
• þeir/þær/þau eru Since the subject is plural (they = tomatoes), use eru.

Where is “the”? How do I say “The tomatoes are fresh today”?

Icelandic doesn’t have a separate definite article; it’s a suffix.

• Indefinite/general: Tómatar eru ferskir í dag.
• Definite/specific: Tómatarnir eru ferskir í dag. Use the definite only when you mean specific tomatoes known from context.