Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Brúðkaupið er á morgun.

Brúðkaupið er á morgun.

The wedding is tomorrow.

Breakdown of Brúðkaupið er á morgun.

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Questions & Answers about Brúðkaupið er á morgun.

Why is it brúðkaupið and not just brúðkaup?

Brúðkaup means a wedding (indefinite).

In Icelandic, the definite article (the) is usually attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word in front, like in English.

brúðkaup = a wedding
brúðkaupið = the wedding

The ending -ið is the neuter singular definite ending in the nominative case.
So brúðkaupið literally means “the wedding”.

What gender is brúðkaup, and how does that affect the ending -ið?

Brúðkaup is a neuter noun.

For neuter nouns in the nominative singular:

Indefinite form: just the base word
- brúðkaup (a wedding)
Definite form: add -ið
- brúðkaupið (the wedding)

So the fact that brúðkaup is neuter is exactly why the definite ending is -ið and not something like -inn or -in.

Why is there no separate word for “the” in the sentence?

Icelandic does not normally use a separate word before nouns for “the”.
Instead, the definite article is a suffix:

masculine: -inn (e.g. stóll → stóllinn = the chair)
feminine: -in (e.g. bók → bókin = the book)
neuter: -ið (e.g. brúðkaup → brúðkaupið = the wedding)

So brúðkaupið already includes the meaning “the wedding”; there is no separate word needed.

Why is er used here? Does er just mean “is”?

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

ég er = I am
þú ert = you are
hann/hún/það er = he/she/it is

Here, the subject is brúðkaupið (the wedding), which is 3rd person singular, so you use er:

Brúðkaupið er á morgun.
The wedding is tomorrow.

How can “er” (is) express a future meaning like “will be” tomorrow?

Icelandic very often uses the present tense to talk about the near future, especially for scheduled events, plans, and arrangements.

So:

Brúðkaupið er á morgun.
literally: The wedding is tomorrow,
but in context: The wedding is (going to be) tomorrow.

This works much like English sentences such as:

The concert is tomorrow.
The flight is at 9 a.m.

You can also say Brúðkaupið verður á morgun (the wedding will be tomorrow) using verður (will be), but er is completely natural here.

What does á morgun literally mean, and why á?

Á morgun is a very common phrase meaning tomorrow.

Literally:

á = on / at (here, used for time)
morgun = morning (accusative/dative form of morgunn)

So literally it is something like “on (the) morning”, but idiomatically it just means “tomorrow”.

In time expressions like this, á often governs the accusative and is used similarly to English on / at:

á morgun = tomorrow
á mánudag = on Monday
á þriðjudaginn = on Tuesday

In practice, you just learn á morgun as the fixed way to say tomorrow.

Is morgun here accusative or dative, and why doesn’t it change form?

The noun is morgunn (morning), with these singular forms:

Nominative: morgunn
Accusative: morgun
Dative: morgni
Genitive: morguns

In á morgun, the preposition á is used for a time expression and takes the accusative:

á morgun → accusative morgun

It doesn’t look different from the dative, because accusative and dative can coincide in some forms, but here it is best analysed as accusative due to the usual rule á + acc for time (“on Monday”, “on Friday”, etc.).

What is the difference between á morgun and í morgun?

They mean different things:

á morgun = tomorrow (in the future)
- Brúðkaupið er á morgun.
  The wedding is tomorrow.
í morgun = this morning / earlier today
- Ég fór í vinnuna í morgun.
  I went to work this morning.

So for talking about the future day, you must use á morgun, not í morgun.

Could I say Brúðkaup er á morgun without the definite ending?

You can, but it changes the meaning.

Brúðkaupið er á morgun.
The wedding is tomorrow. (a specific, known wedding)
Brúðkaup er á morgun.
Literally: A wedding is tomorrow. / There’s a wedding tomorrow.
(introducing the idea of some wedding, not previously specified)

In most real-life situations, if you and the listener both know which wedding you are talking about, you use the definite form: brúðkaupið.

Is the word order fixed, or can I say Á morgun er brúðkaupið?

Both word orders are possible and correct:

Brúðkaupið er á morgun.
Á morgun er brúðkaupið.

The basic neutral order is Subject – Verb – (other elements):

Brúðkaupið (S) er (V) á morgun.

But Icelandic, like English, can move time expressions to the front for emphasis or to set the scene:

Á morgun er brúðkaupið.
Emphasis on “tomorrow” (e.g. contrasting with some other time).

What is the difference between er and verður here: Brúðkaupið er á morgun vs Brúðkaupið verður á morgun?

Both are correct but have a slightly different feel:

Brúðkaupið er á morgun.
Neutral statement; like English “The wedding is tomorrow.”
Present tense used for a scheduled future event.
Brúðkaupið verður á morgun.
Literally “The wedding will be tomorrow.”
Slightly more focus on the occurrence or taking place of the event.

In everyday speech, er á morgun is extremely common and perfectly natural.

How is brúðkaupið pronounced, especially the ðk cluster?

Approximate pronunciation (in a broad English-friendly way):

brúðkaupið ≈ [BRUUTH-køy-pith]

More precisely:

brúð – ú like oo in food; ð is a soft th as in this, often quite weak
kaup – au is a diphthong, roughly like öy / oi; p is like English p
ið – i like i in bit; ð again like a soft th in this

The cluster ðk is not pronounced as two strong separate consonants; the ð is often weakened or almost disappears before k, so it comes out closer to something like brúk- or brú-k to an English ear.