Questions & Answers about Lampinn er slökktur í kvöld.
Why is it Lampinn and not lampi?
Icelandic does not use a separate word for “the”.
Instead it adds a definite ending to the noun.
- lampi = a lamp (indefinite, nominative singular)
- lampinn = the lamp (definite, nominative singular)
The ending -inn is the masculine nominative singular definite article.
So Lampinn er slökktur í kvöld literally starts with “The‑lamp is off tonight.”
What does er slökktur literally mean? Is it a passive form?
- er = is (3rd person singular of vera “to be”)
- slökktur = past participle of slökkva (to turn off, extinguish), used adjectivally
So er slökktur is literally “is turned‑off” and describes a state, not the action of turning it off.
Grammatically, it looks like a passive (“is turned off”), but in Icelandic this kind of structure with vera + past participle is usually understood as a resulting state, very much like English “The lamp is broken / is closed / is locked.”
Why is the verb in the present tense (er) when English might say “The lamp will be off tonight”?