Stiginn er sleipur í dag.

to be

Breakdown of Stiginn er sleipur í dag.

• í dag: today
• sleipur: slippery
• stiginn: the stair

Questions & Answers about Stiginn er sleipur í dag.

Why is it stiginn if in English we’d usually say the stairs are slippery (plural)?

Icelandic treats this as one object: the staircase or ladder.

• stigi = a stair, staircase, or ladder (singular, masculine).
• stiginn = the stair / the staircase / the ladder (singular, definite form).

So Stiginn er sleipur í dag is literally The staircase is slippery today, but in everyday English we’d more naturally say The stairs are slippery today. The number difference is just a quirk of how each language conceptualizes it.

What is the base form and gender of stiginn?

The base (dictionary) form is:

• stigi – masculine noun, meaning stair, staircase, ladder.

A simplified singular declension:

• Nominative: stigi – a staircase (subject form)
• Accusative: stiga – staircase as a direct object
• Dative: stiga
• Genitive: stiga

Definite forms in the singular:

• Nominative: stiginn – the staircase (subject)
• Accusative: stigann – the staircase (object)
• Dative: stiganum
• Genitive: stigans

How does Icelandic express the in ?