Breakdown of Fóturinn hennar er þreyttur eftir langan göngutúr heim.
vera
to be
heim
home
eftir
after
langur
long
Questions & Answers about Fóturinn hennar er þreyttur eftir langan göngutúr heim.
Why is it Fóturinn hennar and not hennar fótur, when in English we say “her foot”?
In Icelandic, the neutral and most common way to say “X’s [body part / possession]” is:
- [noun] + [definite article] + [possessor in genitive]
→ fóturinn hennar = “the foot of her / her foot”
Putting hennar before the noun (hennar fótur) is possible but sounds marked, with extra emphasis or contrast:
- Hennar fótur er þreyttur, ekki minn.
“Her foot is tired, not mine.”
So:
- fóturinn hennar = ordinary “her foot”
- hennar fótur = “her foot (as opposed to someone else’s foot)”
What does the ending -inn in fóturinn mean?
The ending -inn is the definite article (“the”) attached to the end of the noun.
- fótur = “foot”
- fóturinn = “the foot”
Icelandic usually attaches the definite article to the noun, instead of using a separate word like English the.
So Fóturinn hennar literally is “the foot of her” → “her foot”.
Why is þreyttur masculine, and how does it agree with fóturinn?