Strákurinn er forvitinn og spyr um eyjuna.

The boy is curious and asks about the island.

Breakdown of Strákurinn er forvitinn og spyr um eyjuna.

• vera: to be
• spyrja: to ask
• og: and
• um: about
• strákurinn: the boy
• eyjan: the island
• forvitinn: curious

Questions & Answers about Strákurinn er forvitinn og spyr um eyjuna.

What does the ending -inn in strákurinn mean?

The ending -inn is the definite article (“the”) attached to the noun.

• strákur = “boy”
• strákurinn = “the boy”

In Icelandic, the definite article is usually suffixed to the noun instead of standing in front of it as a separate word (like English the).

So:

• strákur → strákurinn (the boy)
• kattur → katturinn (the cat)
• bíll → bíllinn (the car)

Why is strákurinn in this form (nominative) and not changed like strákinn or something?

Strákurinn is in the nominative singular definite form, because it is the subject of the sentence.

• Subject = the “doer” or the one being described.
• In Icelandic, the subject is usually in the nominative case.

Declension of strákur (simplified):

• Nominative: strákur – strákurinn (“the boy”) → subject
• Accusative: strák – strákinn
• Dative: strák – stráknum
• Genitive: stráks – stráksins

Since the boy is the one who is curious and asks, we use nominative: strákurinn.

Why is the adjective forvitinn and not some other form like forvitin?

In Icelandic, adjectives agree with the noun they describe in:

• gender (masculine / feminine / neuter)
• number (singular / plural)
• case (nominative / accusative / dative / genitive)

Here:

• strákurinn is masculine, singular, nominative.
• So forvitinn must also be masculine, singular, nominative, in the strong form.

Compare other forms of the same adjective:

• Masculine nominative singular (strong): forvitinn → used here
• Feminine nominative singular: forvitin
• Neuter nominative singular: forvitið
• Plural masculine nominative: forvitnir

So strákurinn er forvitinn literally matches:

• the boy (masc. nom. sg.)
• is
• curious (masc. nom. sg.)

That’s why forvitinn is the correct form here.

What is er and how is it conjugated?

Er is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb að vera (“to be”).

Very common present forms of að vera:

• ég er – I am
• þú ert – you are (singular, informal)
• hann/hún/það er – he/she/it is
• við erum – we are
• þið eruð – you are (plural)
• þeir/þær/þau eru – they are

So strákurinn er forvitinn = “the boy is curious.”

What verb is spyr from, and why doesn’t it look like the infinitive?

Spyr is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb að spyrja (“to ask”).

Infinitive:

• að spyrja – to ask

Present tense (singular):

• ég spyr – I ask
• þú spyrð – you ask
• hann/hún/það spyr – he/she/it asks

So in the sentence:

• strákurinn spyr = “the boy asks”

The stem changes slightly between forms; this is normal for strong verbs in Icelandic. Even though the infinitive ends in -ja, many forms just show spyr- (like spyr, spyrð, spurðum in the past, etc.).

Why do we say spyr um? Can I just say spyr eyjuna without um?

In Icelandic, the verb að spyrja can be used in two main ways:

1. spyrja e-n e-s – “to ask someone something”

   • Hann spyr hana spurningu. – “He asks her a question.”

2. spyrja um e-ð – “to ask about something”

   • Hann spyr um eyjuna. – “He asks about the island.”

In your sentence, the meaning is “asks about the island,” not “asks the island” or “asks the island something,” so the correct pattern is:

• spyr um + accusative

Therefore:

• spyr um eyjuna = “asks about the island”

You cannot simply drop um here; spyr eyjuna by itself would sound wrong or at least very odd.

Why is it eyjuna and not eyjan or eyja?

Eyjuna is:

• accusative singular definite of eyja (“island”).

Breakdown:

• eyja = island (nominative, indefinite)
• eyjan = the island (nominative singular definite)
• eyju = island (accusative/dative, indefinite)
• eyjuna = the island (accusative singular definite)

The preposition um (“about”) normally takes the accusative case.

So:

• We need accusative because of um → eyju-
• We need definite (“the island”) → add -na → eyjuna

That’s why:

• um eyjuna = “about the island”
• Not um eyjan (wrong case) or um eyja (wrong case and indefinite).

Why does og connect er forvitinn and spyr um eyjuna like that? Is that normal?

Yes, this is normal and very common.

The structure is:

• Strákurinn (subject)
• er forvitinn (first predicate: “is curious”)
• og (and)
• spyr um eyjuna (second predicate: “asks about the island”)

So og is joining two verb phrases (two things the same subject is doing / being):

• He is curious
• and (he) asks about the island

In English you might say:

• “The boy is curious and asks about the island.”

Exactly the same logic applies in Icelandic; the subject strákurinn is shared by both parts.

Could I change the word order to something like Strákurinn spyr um eyjuna og er forvitinn?

Yes, that is grammatically correct, and it would mean essentially the same thing:

• Strákurinn spyr um eyjuna og er forvitinn.
• “The boy asks about the island and is curious.”

The emphasis is slightly different:

• Strákurinn er forvitinn og spyr um eyjuna.
  Slightly emphasizes his state (being curious) first, then what he does.
• Strákurinn spyr um eyjuna og er forvitinn.
  Slightly emphasizes the action (asking) first.

But both are fine, natural sentences, and the basic word order (subject–verb–object) is respected in both.

How do you pronounce eyjuna, especially ey and j?

Approximate pronunciation for eyjuna is:

• ey – like the “ei” in English “eight” or “say” (a long vowel [ei] sound).
• j – like English “y” in “yes”.
• u – a short “uh” sound (similar to the u in British “put”, though not identical).
• Final -na – pronounced roughly “na”.

So a rough English approximation:

• eyjuna ≈ “AY-yu-na”, with the stress on the first syllable: EY-yu-na.

Remember:

• Icelandic stress is almost always on the first syllable of the word.