Questions & Answers about Munnurinn er þurr þegar ég tala mikið.
Why is it munnurinn and not my mouth like in English?
Icelandic often uses the definite article with body parts where English uses a possessive.
So Munnurinn er þurr literally means “The mouth is dry”, but in context it usually refers to the speaker’s own mouth: “My mouth is dry.”
You can say Munnurinn minn er þurr for “My mouth is dry”, but the possessive minn is usually omitted when it’s obvious whose body part is meant.
What is the difference between munnur, munninn, and munnurinn?
All three come from the noun munnur (mouth), masculine:
- munnur – indefinite, nominative singular: “a mouth”
- munnurinn – definite, nominative singular: “the mouth” (used as subject here)
- munninn – definite, accusative singular: e.g. í munninn = “into the mouth”
In the sentence Munnurinn er þurr, munnurinn is the subject, so it must be nominative definite.
Why is the adjective þurr in this exact form?