Brandarinn er mjög fyndinn.

The joke is very funny.

Breakdown of Brandarinn er mjög fyndinn.

• vera: to be
• mjög: very
• fyndinn: funny
• brandarinn: the joke

Questions & Answers about Brandarinn er mjög fyndinn.

What does the ending -inn in Brandarinn mean, and what is the base form of this word?

The base (dictionary) form is brandari, which means a joke.

The ending -inn is the definite article (“the”) attached to the end of the noun. Icelandic usually puts “the” on the noun as a suffix rather than as a separate word.

So:

• brandari = a joke
• brandarinn = the joke

Grammatically, brandarinn is:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative case
• definite form

That’s why in the sentence it means “the joke”, not just “a joke”.

Why is Brandarinn in the nominative case here?

In Icelandic, the subject of a normal “to be” sentence is in the nominative case.

In this sentence:

• Brandarinn is the subject (“the joke”)
• er is the verb “is”
• mjög fyndinn is the predicate (what we are saying about the subject)

Because “the joke” is the subject, it takes nominative: brandarinn (not, for example, brandarann, which would be accusative).

What does er mean, and are there other forms I should know?

er is the 3rd person singular present form of the verb vera (“to be”). It corresponds to English is.

The main present tense forms of vera are:

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

Since Brandarinn is third person singular (like “it” or “he”), the correct form is er.

What kind of word is mjög, and where does it go in the sentence?

mjög is an adverb meaning “very”.

Here, it modifies the adjective fyndinn (“funny”), so it comes directly before it:

• mjög fyndinn = very funny

Word order pattern is:

• Brandarinn (subject)
• er (verb “to be”)
• mjög fyndinn (adverb + adjective)

mjög never changes its form; it does not agree in gender, number, or case. It is always just mjög.

Why does fyndinn end in -inn, and what does that tell me?

fyndinn is an adjective meaning roughly funny or witty. Icelandic adjectives agree with the noun they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

Since brandarinn is:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative

the adjective also takes the masculine singular nominative form: fyndinn.

Some key forms of fyndinn (strong declension) are:

• masculine nominative singular: fyndinn
• feminine nominative singular: fyndin
• neuter nominative singular: fyndið

So:

• Brandarinn er fyndinn. – The joke is funny. (masc.)
• Sagan er fyndin. – The story is funny. (fem.)
• Brandið er fyndið. – The brand is funny. (neut.)

The -inn here is part of the adjective ending, not the definite article. It just happens to look the same.

Does fyndinn have to agree with Brandarinn in gender and number?

Yes. In Icelandic, adjectives that describe a noun must match that noun in:

• gender (masc / fem / neut)
• number (singular / plural)
• case (nominative / accusative / dative / genitive)

So because brandarinn is masculine singular nominative, the adjective must also be masculine singular nominative: fyndinn.

If you changed the noun, you’d change the adjective too:

• Brandararnir eru mjög fyndnir. – The jokes are very funny. (masc. plural: fyndnir)
• Sögurnar eru mjög fyndnar. – The stories are very funny. (fem. plural: fyndnar)
• Bröndin eru mjög fyndin. – The brands/jokes (neut. pl.) are very funny. (neut. plural: fyndin)

Can I move mjög to another position, like Brandarinn er fyndinn mjög?

No, not in normal, natural Icelandic.

The usual (and strongly preferred) position for mjög is directly before the adjective it modifies:

• ✅ Brandarinn er mjög fyndinn. – natural
• ❌ Brandarinn er fyndinn mjög. – sounds wrong / foreign
• ❌ Mjög er brandarinn fyndinn. – unnatural in ordinary speech

You can move larger chunks for emphasis (for example in poetry or very marked style), but in everyday language you should keep:

[Subject] + er + [adverb] + [adjective]

How would I turn this sentence into a yes–no question in Icelandic?

For a simple yes–no question, you normally put the verb first, then the subject:

Statement:

• Brandarinn er mjög fyndinn. – The joke is very funny.

Question:

• Er brandarinn mjög fyndinn? – Is the joke very funny?

Word order pattern:

• er (verb)
• brandarinn (subject)
• mjög fyndinn (adverb + adjective)

You don’t need an extra word like “do” in English. Just move the verb to the front.

What’s the difference between brandari and brandarinn? When do I use each?

• brandari = a joke (indefinite)
• brandarinn = the joke (definite)

Use brandari when you are talking about any joke or introducing a joke for the first time:

• Ég sagði brandara. – I told a joke.

Use brandarinn when both you and the listener know which specific joke you mean (it has already been mentioned or is obvious from context):

• Brandarinn sem þú sagðir var mjög fyndinn. – The joke you told was very funny.

In your sentence, Brandarinn er mjög fyndinn., you are talking about a specific joke that is already known in the conversation.

How do you pronounce the words Brandarinn er mjög fyndinn?

Approximate pronunciation for an English speaker (not strict IPA):

• Brandarinn ≈ “BRAHN-dah-rin”

  • Stress is always on the first syllable in Icelandic: BRAN–dar–inn.
  • The final -nn often has a slight “h”‑like breath before it in careful Icelandic, but you can safely aim for a clear “n” sound.

• er ≈ “air” (short)

• mjög ≈ “myuhg”

  • mj together sound like “my” in my, but shorter.
  • ö is a rounded vowel, something between English e in bed and u in burn (but said with rounded lips).
  • The g at the end is often weak; many learners will almost not hear it.

• fyndinn ≈ “FIN-din” (both vowels short, like i in sit)

  • Icelandic y and i are pronounced the same in modern Icelandic.
  • Again, stress on the first syllable: FYN–dinn.

You don’t have to be perfect from the start; if you get the stress right (always on the first syllable) and keep the vowels relatively short here, you’ll already sound much closer to Icelandic.

Is there any difference between fyndinn and other Icelandic words like skemmtilegur or skrítinn?

Yes, they’re related but not identical in meaning or tone:

• fyndinn – funny, witty, causes laughter (focus on humour)

  • Brandarinn er mjög fyndinn. – The joke is very funny.

• skemmtilegur – entertaining, enjoyable, fun (broader, not only “laugh‑out‑loud funny”)

  • Þátturinn er mjög skemmtilegur. – The show is very entertaining / fun.

• skrítinn – strange, odd, weird (can sometimes be “funny” in the sense of odd)

  • Brandarinn er skrítinn. – The joke is weird / odd (maybe not really funny).

So in your sentence, fyndinn is the natural choice to say that the joke actually makes people laugh.