Vegurinn er mjór.

The road is narrow.

Breakdown of Vegurinn er mjór.

• vera: to be
• vegurinn: the road
• mjór: narrow

Questions & Answers about Vegurinn er mjór.

Why is vegurinn written as one word instead of having a separate word for “the” like in English?

Icelandic does not use a separate definite article like English the.
Instead, the article is attached to the end of the noun as a suffix.

• vegur = road
• vegur + inn → vegurinn = the road

So vegurinn er mjór literally looks like “road-the is narrow”, but it means “The road is narrow.”

What is the difference between vegur and vegurinn?

• vegur = a road / (some) road (indefinite, unspecific)
• vegurinn = the road (definite, a specific road already known in the context)

Examples:

• Vegur er mjór. – A road is narrow. (sounds odd in English, but grammatically fine)
• Vegurinn er mjór. – The road is narrow. (about a particular road)

You use vegurinn when both speaker and listener know which road is meant.

What gender is vegur, and why does that matter for this sentence?

vegur is a masculine noun. Gender matters because:

1. It affects how the definite ending looks:
   
   • masculine: vegur → vegurinn
2. It controls adjective agreement:
   
   • the adjective mjór is in masculine nominative singular to match vegurinn.

If the noun were feminine or neuter, the adjective form would change, e.g.:

• gatan er mjó. – The street is narrow. (gata, feminine → mjó)
• húsið er mjótt. – The house is narrow. (hús, neuter → mjótt)

What case is vegurinn in here, and why?

vegurinn is in the nominative case, because it is the subject of the sentence.

Basic pattern:

• Subject (nominative) + er
  • adjective (also nominative, agreeing with the subject)
• Vegurinn (nom. subject) + er
  • mjór (nom. masc. sg.)

If the word vegur were used in other roles, its case and form would change:

Singular of vegur:

• Nominative: vegur / vegurinn – the road (subject)
• Accusative: veg / veginn – I see the road → Ég sé veginn.
• Dative: vegi / veginum – on the road → á veginum
• Genitive: vegar / vegarins – of the road → enda vegarins

Why does the adjective end in -r in mjór? Does it change?

Yes, mjór changes form. Adjectives in Icelandic agree with the noun in:

• gender (masc/fem/neut)
• number (sing/plural)
• case (nom/acc/dat/gen)

Here:

• vegurinn is masculine, singular, nominative
• so mjór is also masculine, singular, nominative (strong form)

Some forms of mjór in the nominative:

• Masculine singular: mjór – Vegurinn er mjór.
• Feminine singular: mjó – Gatan er mjó.
• Neuter singular: mjótt – Húsið er mjótt.
• Masculine plural: mjóir – Vegirnir eru mjóir. (The roads are narrow.)

Could I say Vegurinn er mjó instead of mjór?

Not when referring to vegurinn (a masculine noun). mjó is a feminine form, so it would only be correct with a feminine subject:

• Gatan er mjó. – The street is narrow. (gata, feminine)
• Vegurinn er mjór. – The road is narrow. (vegur, masculine)

Mixing vegurinn (masc.) with mjó (fem.) would be ungrammatical.

Can I drop er and just say Vegurinn mjór, like in some other languages?

No. In standard Icelandic, you must use the verb að vera (er = is) in sentences like this.

• Correct: Vegurinn er mjór.
• Incorrect in normal Icelandic: Vegurinn mjór.

Leaving out er would look like a fragment, not a complete normal sentence.

Is the word order always subject – er – adjective, like Vegurinn er mjór?

For simple statements with to be, the usual order is:

1. Subject (nominative)
2. Verb (er)
3. Predicative adjective or noun

So:

• Vegurinn er mjór. – The road is narrow.
• Húsið er stórt. – The house is big.
• Strákurinn er þreyttur. – The boy is tired.

You can change word order for questions or emphasis:

• Er vegurinn mjór? – Is the road narrow?
• Mjór er vegurinn. – poetic/emphatic; “Narrow is the road.”

How do I say “The roads are narrow” using this pattern?

You make both the noun and the adjective plural:

• Singular: Vegurinn er mjór. – The road is narrow.
• Plural: Vegirnir eru mjóir. – The roads are narrow.

Changes:

• vegurinn → vegirnir (masculine plural definite, nominative)
• er → eru (3rd person plural of að vera)
• mjór → mjóir (masculine plural nominative)

How do I say “The road is very narrow” or “This road is narrow”?

Two useful additions:

1. mjög = very (an adverb, does not change)

   • Vegurinn er mjög mjór. – The road is very narrow.

2. þessi = this (must agree with the noun)

   • Þessi vegur er mjór. – This road is narrow. (indefinite noun, demonstrative used)
   • Þessi vegur er mjög mjór. – This road is very narrow.