Hann er veikur í dag.

to be

Breakdown of Hann er veikur í dag.

• hann: he
• dagur: the day
• í: in

Questions & Answers about Hann er veikur í dag.

What does each word in the sentence do grammatically?

• Hann = he (3rd person singular, nominative).
• er = is (3rd person singular present of vera, “to be”).
• veikur = sick/ill (adjective, masculine nominative singular, strong ending -ur, agreeing with Hann).
• í dag = today (literally “in day”; a fixed time expression with í
  • accusative dag).

Why is it veikur and not veikt or veik?

Adjectives agree with the subject in gender, number, and case. Hann is masculine singular nominative, so the adjective takes the masculine nominative singular form veikur. The forms are:

• Masculine: veikur (he is sick) → Hann er veikur
• Feminine: veik (she is sick) → Hún er veik
• Neuter: veikt (it is sick) → Það er veikt

How would the sentence change for different subjects (she/they/plural)?

• She: Hún er veik í dag.
• They (masc. pl.): Þeir eru veikir í dag.
• They (fem. pl.): Þær eru veikar í dag.
• They (mixed/neut. pl.): Þau eru veik í dag.