Questions & Answers about Ég kaupi ekkert nema tómata.
Because the noun is a direct object and needs the accusative plural. With the verb kaupa (“to buy”), objects go in the accusative. The word after nema (“except”) keeps the case it would have as the object:
- Nom. pl.: tómatar (“tomatoes” as the subject)
- Acc. pl.: tómata (“tomatoes” as the object)
- Acc. pl. definite: tómatana (“the tomatoes” as the object)
If you remove the exception phrase, you get the normal object: Ég kaupi tómata.
- With a noun phrase, nema means “except/but.” It does not assign a case; the following noun appears in whatever case the context requires: nema tómata (accusative because it’s the object of kaupi).
- With a full clause, nema means “unless”: for example, Ég kem ekki, nema þú komir (“I won’t come unless you come”). You may also see nema að before clauses.
Yes. Ég kaupi ekki nema tómata is very common and means “I buy only tomatoes / nothing but tomatoes.”
Both ekkert nema X and ekki nema X convey the same idea. Nuance:
- ekkert nema X = literally “nothing except X,” slightly more emphatic or formal.
- ekki nema X = common, natural in everyday speech (“only X”). You can also use bara/aðeins/einungis: Ég kaupi bara tómata (“I only buy tomatoes”).
Right after the finite verb (V2 word order):
Ég kaupi ekki neitt nema tómata.
Avoid placing ekki before the verb here.
Generally no. It’s felt as an odd double negation. Use either:
- Ég kaupi ekkert (“I buy nothing”), or
- Ég kaupi ekki neitt (“I don’t buy anything”). Both are standard; don’t combine ekki with ekkert.
Use the “no + noun” pattern with enginn:
Ég kaupi enga tómata.
Here enga is the accusative plural of enginn agreeing with tómata.
Icelandic has no indefinite article. A bare noun is indefinite by default. If you want “the tomatoes,” you use the definite suffix:
- Indefinite: tómata (“tomatoes”)
- Definite: tómatana (“the tomatoes”) So: Ég kaupi ekkert nema tómatana = “I buy nothing except the tomatoes.”
Kaupi is 1st person singular present indicative of kaupa (“to buy”). Present tense:
- ég kaupi
- þú kaupir
- hann/hún/það kaupir
- við kaupum
- þið kaupið
- þeir/þær/þau kaupa Past: ég keypti; past participle: keypt.
Icelandic usually uses simple present for both “I buy” and “I’m buying.” If you need to stress an ongoing action, use vera að + infinitive:
- Ég er að kaupa tómata.
Yes—Icelandic is a V2 language. Whatever you front, the finite verb stays second:
- Neutral: Ég kaupi ekkert nema tómata.
- Emphatic fronting: Ekkert kaupi ég nema tómata. You can also front the exception phrase for a marked, stylistic effect: Nema tómata kaupi ég ekkert.
Not with a simple noun phrase: Ég kaupi ekkert nema tómata (no comma).
With a full clause, you’ll usually see a comma in writing: Ég kem ekki, nema þú komir.
Very rough guide (English-like approximation):
- Ég ≈ “yeh/yegh” (the g is soft, often barely audible)
- kaupi ≈ “KOY-pi” (au like fronted “oy”)
- ekkert ≈ “EH-kert” (kk like a hard k; rt as in “car-t” with a tapped/voiceless r)
- nema ≈ “NEH-ma”
- tómata ≈ “TOH-ma-ta” (ó like “oh”; stress on first syllable) Icelandic stress is almost always on the first syllable.
Plural fits the idea of “tomatoes” in general. If you literally mean one tomato, use the singular accusative:
- Ég kaupi ekkert nema (einn) tómat. Here tómat is singular accusative of tómatur, and einn (“one”) agrees in case and gender.
- ekkert = “nothing” (neuter pronoun by itself): Ég geri ekkert (“I do nothing”).
- neitt = “anything/something (at all)” used with negation or questions: Ég geri ekki neitt (“I don’t do anything”).
- enginn (m.), engin (f.), ekkert (n.) = “no/none” used with nouns, and “no one/nobody” for people:
- “no tomatoes”: enga tómata (acc. pl.)
- “no one”: enginn (as a person).
Nema doesn’t assign a case. The following noun/pronoun appears in the case required by the verb or preposition:
- Direct object (acc.): Ég kaupi ekkert nema tómata.
- With a preposition (acc.): Ég tala við engan nema þig.
- With a preposition (dat.): Ég fæ ekkert frá neinum nema frá honum.
- With a preposition (gen.): Ég hef ekkert til nema peninga.