Questions & Answers about Leikurinn er auðveldur.
The ending -inn is the definite article in Icelandic, equivalent to English “the.”
- leikur = a game
- leikurinn = the game
In Icelandic, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word in front of it, as in English.
Both forms are grammatically possible, but they mean different things:
- Leikur er auðveldur. = A game is easy / A game is an easy thing (in general).
- Leikurinn er auðveldur. = The game is easy (a specific game you have in mind).
In normal speech, if you are talking about a particular game (e.g. the one you’re playing), you use the definite form leikurinn.
leikurinn
- Gender: masculine
- Number: singular
- Case: nominative (it is the subject of the sentence)
auðveldur
- Gender: masculine
- Number: singular
- Case: nominative (it agrees with the subject)
In Icelandic, a descriptive adjective after er must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case. That is why auðveldur is masculine singular nominative, to match leikurinn.
The base of the adjective is auðveld-, and in the masculine nominative singular (strong declension) it takes the ending -ur, giving auðveldur.
Other forms appear with different genders/numbers, for example:
- auðveldur leikur – an easy game (masc. sg.)
- auðveld bók – an easy book (fem. sg.)
- auðvelt verkefni – an easy assignment (neut. sg.)
- Leikirnir eru auðveldir. – The games are easy. (masc. pl. nom.)
So the ending changes, but in the sentence Leikurinn er auðveldur, -ur is required by agreement with a masculine singular subject.
Not when leikurinn is the subject.
auðvelt is the neuter nominative/accusative form (or an adverb: easily), but leikurinn is masculine. The adjective must agree:
- Leikurinn er auðveldur. ✅ (masc. adj. with masc. noun)
- Verkefnið er auðvelt. ✅ The assignment is easy. (neut. noun + neut. adj.)
- Leikurinn er auðvelt. ❌ (gender mismatch)
This sentence uses very normal Icelandic word order:
- Subject – Verb – Predicative adjective
- Leikurinn (subject) – er (verb is) – auðveldur (adjective describing the subject)
This is directly parallel to English “The game is easy.” You cannot normally drop er or move the adjective in front of the verb in this kind of simple statement.
For the noun, dictionaries list the indefinite nominative singular form:
- leikur – this is what you look up, not leikurinn.
For adjectives, dictionaries typically list the masculine nominative singular strong form:
- auðveldur – that is already the dictionary form.
So you would find the entry leikur and auðveldur in a dictionary.
You need to put both the noun and the adjective in the masculine plural nominative definite:
- Leikirnir eru auðveldir.
- leikirnir = the games (nom. pl. with definite ending)
- eru = are (plural of er, but same form for all persons in present)
- auðveldir = easy (masc. nom. pl. to agree with leikirnir)
Yes, when it directly modifies the noun (attributive position):
- auðveldur leikur – an easy game (indefinite)
- auðveldi leikurinn – the easy game (definite; adjective takes weak ending -i, noun has -inn)
In your original sentence, though, the adjective is predicative (after the verb er), so the natural structure is:
- Leikurinn er auðveldur. – The game is easy.
Approximate pronunciation:
- Leikurinn ≈ LAY-kur-in (first syllable stressed; the ei like say)
- er ≈ ehr (like “air” but shorter)
- auðveldur ≈ OITH-vel-dur
- auð: ð is like the th in this, and the vowel is somewhat like the vowel in burn plus a glide.
- ldur: the u is short, like the u in put (but fronted).
Icelandic vowels and consonant clusters are quite different from English, so listening to native audio for the sentence is very helpful.