Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Munnurinn minn er þurr eftir langan fund.

munnurinn – “the mouth”
- base form: munnur = mouth
- -inn is the definite ending = “the”
- nominative singular, masculine
minn – “my”
- 1st person singular possessive pronoun
- here: masculine nominative singular, agreeing with munnurinn
er – “is”
- 3rd person singular present of vera = to be
þurr – “dry”
- adjective “dry”, nominative masculine singular
- agrees with the subject munnurinn
eftir – “after”
- preposition; here it means “after (in time)”, and it takes the accusative case
langan – “long”
- from adjective langur = long
- accusative masculine singular, agreeing with fund
fund – “meeting”
- base form: fundur = meeting
- fund is its accusative singular form, required after eftir here

Why is it munnurinn and not munnur or munnurinn?

The noun munnur (“mouth”) is declined like this in the singular:

nominative: munnur – (a) mouth
accusative: munn
dative: munni
genitive: munns

When you add the definite article -inn (“the”) to the nominative, you attach it to the stem munn-, not to the full munnur:

munn-
- -inn → munninn
then a small sound change / assimilation gives the usual written form munnurinn

So:

munnur = (a) mouth
munnurinn = the mouth

Munnurinn is the correct definite nominative form; munnurinn would be wrong.

Why do we say munnurinn minn to mean “my mouth”? Isn’t the -inn ending already “the/my”?

The definite ending -inn only means “the”, not “my”. Icelandic keeps definiteness and possession separate:

munnur – a mouth
munnurinn – the mouth
munnur minn / minn munnur – my mouth (indefinite form of the noun)
munnurinn minn – my mouth (definite form + my)

In munnurinn minn:

munnurinn = the mouth
minn = my

Together: literally “the mouth of mine” → “my mouth”.

You cannot drop minn and still mean “my mouth” in a neutral way.
Munnurinn er þurr just means “the mouth is dry” (no specific owner expressed, context would have to supply it).

Could I also say Minn munnur er þurr instead of Munnurinn minn er þurr?

Yes, Minn munnur er þurr is grammatically correct, but the nuance is different.

Munnurinn minn er þurr
- Most neutral, everyday way to say “my mouth is dry”.
- Noun + definite ending + possessive pronoun afterwards is the default pattern.
Minn munnur er þurr
- Puts more emphasis on minn (“my mouth (as opposed to someone else’s) is dry”).
- Used for contrast or emphasis: e.g. Minn munnur er þurr, ekki þinn – “My mouth is dry, not yours.”

So:

For a plain statement: prefer Munnurinn minn er þurr.
Use Minn munnur… when you want to stress the “my” part.

Why is the adjective þurr in that form and not something like þurra or þurrt?

Adjectives in Icelandic must agree with the gender, number, and case of the noun they describe.

Here the subject is:

munnurinn – masculine, singular, nominative

So þurr is:

masculine
singular
nominative
strong declension (predicate adjective after vera)

Compare:

Munnurinn minn er þurr. – My mouth is dry. (masc nom → þurr)
Tungan mín er þurr. – My tongue is dry. (fem nom → þurr, feminine form happens to look the same here)
Hálsinn minn er þurr. – My throat is dry. (masc nom → þurr)
Hálsin mitt er þurrt. – My neck (neuter noun) is dry. (neuter nom → þurrt)

Predicate adjectives after vera (“to be”) almost always appear in the strong nominative form matching the subject; that’s why we get þurr here.

Why is it fund and not fundur in eftir langan fund?

The base noun is:

fundur – (a) meeting (nominative singular)

Icelandic prepositions control case. Here:

eftir in the sense “after (in time)” takes the accusative.

So “after a long meeting” → the noun must be in accusative singular:

nominative: fundur – a meeting
accusative: fund – a meeting (as object / after accusative preposition)

Thus:

eftir fund – after a meeting
eftir langan fund – after a long meeting

Using fundur here would be ungrammatical.

What’s going on with langan? How does langur turn into langan?

The adjective:

langur – long (base form, masculine nominative singular, strong)

Adjectives describing a noun must match its case, gender, and number. We already saw:

fund is masculine, singular, accusative.

So langur must also be:

masculine
singular
accusative
strong declension (because the noun is indefinite: fund, not fundurinn)

The strong accusative masculine singular of langur is:

langan

So:

langur fundur – a long meeting (subject, nominative)
langan fund – a long meeting (object / after accusative preposition)

If the noun were definite, the adjective form would change again, e.g.:

eftir langa fundinn – after the long meeting
- fundiNN = definite accusative
- langa = weak accusative masculine singular adjective form

Why does eftir take the accusative here? Doesn’t it also take the dative sometimes?

Yes, eftir can take either accusative or dative, but the meaning changes.

eftir + accusative
- common meaning: after (in time/sequence) / along (a route)
- examples:
  - eftir fundinn – after the meeting
  - eftir götuna – along the street
In eftir langan fund, we clearly mean “after a long meeting (in time)”, so accusative (fund) is required.
eftir + dative
- meanings like: according to, by (as an author), left/remaining
- examples:
  - eftir lögunum – according to the laws
  - bók eftir hann – a book by him
  - Það er kaffi eftir. – There is coffee left.

So for “after a long meeting” in the temporal sense, accusative is the standard choice: eftir langan fund, not dative.

Could I say eftir löngum fundi instead of eftir langan fund?

No, not if you mean “after a long meeting” in normal modern usage.

fundi is dative singular (or accusative plural, depending on context).
löngum would be the dative masculine singular (or dative plural) form of langur.

Putting them together:

eftir löngum fundi → formally: “after/by/according to a long meeting” (with dative)

But with eftir + dative, the meaning usually shifts to things like “according to, by (someone), left/remaining”, not straightforward temporal “after”. For the normal temporal “after a long meeting”, you want:

eftir langan fund – after a long meeting (temporal, accusative)

So grammatically eftir löngum fundi could mean something like “according to a long meeting” or sound archaic/odd, but it would not be the natural way to say “after a long meeting”.

Is Munnurinn minn er þurr the most natural way to say “My mouth is dry” in Icelandic?

It is perfectly correct and idiomatic, but many speakers also use a more “body-feeling” style expression:

Ég er þurr í munninum (eftir langan fund).
- literally: “I am dry in the mouth (after a long meeting).”

Compare the two:

Munnurinn minn er þurr eftir langan fund.
- Focuses directly on the mouth as the subject.
- Clear, correct, and fine in speech or writing.
Ég er þurr í munninum eftir langan fund.
- Very natural everyday way to describe the sensation.
- Uses ég as the subject and a prepositional phrase í munninum.

As a learner, using Munnurinn minn er þurr eftir langan fund is absolutely good Icelandic; just be aware that you’ll also hear the “Ég er þurr í munninum” pattern a lot.

How would the ending of fundur change if I said “after the long meeting” instead of “after a long meeting”?

You’d make both the noun and the adjective definite and keep accusative:

eftir langa fundinn – after the long meeting

Breakdown:

fundur → base noun
accusative singular indefinite: fund – a meeting
accusative singular definite: fundinn – the meeting

The adjective:

base: langur – long
strong acc. masc. sg.: langan (with indefinite noun) → eftir langan fund
weak acc. masc. sg.: langa (with definite noun) → eftir langa fundinn

So:

eftir langan fund – after a long meeting
eftir langa fundinn – after the long meeting