Ég kaupi póstkort í búð.

I buy a postcard at a store.

Breakdown of Ég kaupi póstkort í búð.

• ég: I
• kaupa: to buy
• í: to
• búðin: the store

Questions & Answers about Ég kaupi póstkort í búð.

What does kaupi tell me about the subject and the tense?

Kaupi is the present tense, 1st person singular form of the verb kaupa (to buy).

• Ég kaupi = I buy / I am buying
• Þú kaupir = you (sing.) buy
• Hann/Hún kaupir = he/she buys
• Við kaupum = we buy
• Þið kaupið = you (pl.) buy
• Þeir/Þær/Þau kaupa = they buy

So from kaupi, you can tell the subject must be ég (I), even if it weren’t written.

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Why is there no word for “a” in póstkort or búð?

Icelandic has no separate word for “a/an”. Indefiniteness is usually shown by:

• using the bare noun:
  
  • póstkort = a postcard / postcards (depending on context)
  • búð = a shop
• or, when you really mean “one”, by using einn/ein/eitt (= one):
  
  • Ég kaupi eitt póstkort. = I buy one postcard.

So Ég kaupi póstkort í búð. can naturally mean I buy a postcard in a shop or I buy postcards in a shop.

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How can póstkort mean both “postcard” and “postcards”?