Vorið í borginni er fallegt, en stutt.

Spring in the city is beautiful but short.

Breakdown of Vorið í borginni er fallegt, en stutt.

• vera: to be
• í: in
• en: but
• borgin: the city
• stutt: short
• fallegt: beautiful
• vorið: the spring

Questions & Answers about Vorið í borginni er fallegt, en stutt.

Why is it vorið and not just vor?

Vor means “spring” in general.
Vorið means “the spring” (with the definite article).

In Icelandic, the definite article (“the”) is usually attached to the end of the noun:

• vor = spring
• vorið = the spring

So Vorið í borginni literally is “The spring in the city …”.

What gender and case is vorið, and how does that affect fallegt and stutt?

• vor is a neuter noun.
• In the sentence, Vorið is the subject, so it is in the nominative singular neuter: vorið.

Adjectives that describe the subject must match it in gender, number, and case:

• fallegt = neuter, singular, nominative (from fallegur “beautiful”)
• stutt = neuter, singular, nominative (from stuttur “short”)

So you get:

• Vorið … er fallegt = The spring … is beautiful
• (Vorið … er) stutt = (It) is short

Both adjectives are in neuter nominative singular to agree with vorið.

Why is it í borginni and not í borgina?

The preposition í (“in / into”) can take either dative or accusative, depending on meaning:

• í + accusative → movement into:
  
  • Ég fer í borgina. = I’m going into the city.
• í + dative → location / being in a place:
  
  • Ég er í borginni. = I am in the city.

In Vorið í borginni er fallegt, we are talking about where the spring is (location), not movement, so í takes the dative: borginni.

What does the ending -inni in borginni tell us?

borginni comes from borg (“city”), which is feminine.

The form borginni is:

• feminine
• singular
• dative
• definite

So borginni = “the city” (in dative) → “in the city”.

Rough declension (singular):

• Nom: borg – borgin (the city)
• Acc: borg – borgina
• Dat: borg – borginni
• Gen: borgar – borgarinnar

So -inni here marks both dative and definite for a feminine noun.

Why is there a comma before en?

en means “but”. It connects two clauses:

• Vorið í borginni er fallegt,
• en (vorið í borginni er) stutt.

The verb er and the subject are understood in the second part and usually not repeated, but grammatically you have two coordinated clauses. Icelandic generally uses a comma before en in this kind of “X is …, but (it is) …” structure, similar to English.

You will also see it written without a comma (… er fallegt en stutt), but the version with a comma is very normal and slightly emphasizes the contrast.

Why are fallegt and stutt after the verb instead of before the noun like in English?

In this sentence, fallegt and stutt are predicative adjectives: they come after the verb er and describe the subject.

• Vorið … er fallegt = The spring … is beautiful
  (like English: “spring is beautiful”)

If you put the adjective directly before the noun, it becomes an attributive adjective and you use a different form (weak declension):

• fallegt vor = a beautiful spring (indefinite)
• fallega vorið = the beautiful spring (definite)

So:

• As in the sentence: Vorið er fallegt. (predicate)
• Before the noun: Fallega vorið. (attributive, weak form fallega)

Can the word order change, e.g. Í borginni er vorið fallegt?

Yes. Both are correct, but the emphasis shifts slightly.

• Vorið í borginni er fallegt, en stutt.
  Neutral focus on the spring; then we add “in the city”.

• Í borginni er vorið fallegt, en stutt.
  Puts more emphasis on the location: In the city, the spring is beautiful but short.

Icelandic allows this kind of fronting, but it keeps the verb in second position (V2 rule):

• Í borginni (adverbial) – er (verb) – vorið (subject) – fallegt (adjective)

What exactly does stutt mean here—short in time or in distance?

stuttur / stutt can mean “short” in several senses:

• short in length
• short in height
• short in duration / brief

In the context of a season, stutt clearly means short in duration:

• Vorið í borginni er … stutt.
  → Spring in the city doesn’t last long; it’s a brief season.

Why are there no separate words for “the” in this sentence?

Icelandic usually attaches the definite article as an ending on the noun, instead of using a separate word like English “the”:

• vor – vorið = spring – the spring
• borg – borgin / borginni = city – the city (nom. / dat.)

So English:

• “The spring in the city is beautiful, but short.”

Icelandic:

• Vorið (the-spring) í borginni (in-the-city) er fallegt, en stutt.

No separate article word is needed; it’s built into -ið, -in, -inni, etc.

How do you roughly pronounce Vorið í borginni er fallegt, en stutt?

Very rough guide with English-like hints (not exact):

• Vorið ≈ VO-rith

  • vo like “vo” in vortex but more open
  • ð like soft th in this, often very weak at the end

• í ≈ ee (as in see)

• borginni ≈ BORG-in-ni

  • the g is often devoiced and sounds closer to k: BORK-in-ni
  • double nn is a longer n sound

• er ≈ ehr (short e, then r)

• fallegt ≈ FAH-lyekt

  • ll has a special Icelandic sound, a bit like tly or tl; don’t worry if you just say “fal-legt” at first

• en = en, like English N in ten but without the initial t.

• stutt ≈ stoot (short oo, as in foot but more rounded; final tt clearly pronounced)

You don’t need perfect sounds as a beginner; focus on rhythm and stress, roughly:

VOR-ið í BORG-in-ni er FAL-legt, en STUTT.