Ég finn ekki lykilinn í veskinu.

I do not find the key in the wallet.

Breakdown of Ég finn ekki lykilinn í veskinu.

• ég: I
• ekki: not
• í: in
• lykillinn: the key
• veskið: the wallet
• finna: to feel

Questions & Answers about Ég finn ekki lykilinn í veskinu.

Why is there no separate word for “can’t” in the Icelandic sentence?

English says “I can’t find the key…”, but Icelandic just says Ég finn ekki lykilinn…, literally “I find not the key…”.

In Icelandic, a very common way to express “can’t / can’t manage to / am unable to” in everyday speech is simply:

• Ég finn ekki … = I can’t find … / I don’t find …
• Ég sé ekki … = I can’t see …
• Ég heyri ekki … = I can’t hear …

If you really want to emphasize ability, you can use the verb geta (can, be able to), e.g.:

• Ég get ekki fundið lykilinn í veskinu.
  = I can’t (am not able to) find the key in the purse.

But in most contexts, Ég finn ekki lykilinn í veskinu is the natural way to say “I can’t find the key in the purse.”

Why is it finn and not finna or finnur?

Finn is the 1st person singular present tense form of the verb að finna (to find).

Present tense of að finna:

• ég finn – I find
• þú finnur – you (singular) find
• hann / hún / það finnur – he / she / it finds
• við finnum – we find
• þið finnið – you (plural) find
• þeir / þær / þau finna – they find

So:

• Ég finn = I find / I am finding
• Ég finn ekki = I don’t find / I can’t find

Finna is the infinitive (dictionary form: að finna).
Finnur is used with “you” (singular) or “he/she/it”, not with “I”.

What does each word in Ég finn ekki lykilinn í veskinu literally mean?

Word-for-word:

• Ég – I
• finn – find (1st person singular, present)
• ekki – not
• lykilinn – the key (accusative case, definite)
• í – in
• veskinu – the purse / the wallet (dative case, definite)

So a literal gloss is:

Ég (I) finn (find) ekki (not) lykilinn (the-key) í (in) veskinu (the-purse).

Natural English: “I can’t find the key in the purse.”

What does the -inn ending on lykilinn mean, and why does lykill become lykil-?

The ending -inn is the definite article (“the”) attached directly to the noun.

• lykill – a key (indefinite)
• lykilinn – the key (definite, accusative singular)

Two things happen:

1. Definite article is suffixed, not separate:
   Icelandic usually puts “the” at the end of the word:

   • lykill → lykilinn (the key)
   • maður → maðurinn (the man)

2. The stem changes slightly: lykill → lykil-
   This is just how this masculine noun behaves in its oblique cases.
   For masculine lykill (key), the singular forms are roughly:

   • Nominative: lykill – (subject) a/the key
   • Accusative: lykil – (object) a key
   • Dative: lykli
   • Genitive: lykils

   With the definite article in accusative:

   • lykil
     • inn → lykilinn (the key as a direct object)

Why is lykilinn in a different form from the dictionary form lykill?

The dictionary form lykill is nominative singular (used for subjects).

In this sentence, lykilinn is the direct object of the verb finn, so it must be in the accusative case.

• Nominative (subject): lykill – a/the key
  
  • e.g. Lykillinn er í veskinu. – The key is in the purse.
• Accusative (direct object): lykil → lykilinn – the key
  
  • e.g. Ég finn lykilinn. – I find the key.

Because “the key” is being found (acted upon), it appears as lykilinn and not lykillinn or plain lykill.

Why is veskinu in the dative case?

Veskinu is in the dative case because it follows the preposition í (in) and expresses location.

Prepositions like í (in) and á (on) can take different cases depending on meaning:

• Dative = location (where something is)
• Accusative = movement (where something is going / into / onto)

For veski (a purse / wallet, neuter), singular dative definite is:

• veski (nom./acc. indef.)
• veskið (nom./acc. definite – the purse as subject/object)
• veski (dative indef.)
• veskinu (dative definite – in the purse)

So:

• í veskinu = in the purse (location → dative)
• í veskið would normally be understood as into the purse (movement → accusative)

What is the difference between í veskinu and í veskið?

Both contain í (in/into), but the case changes the meaning:

• í veskinu – dative
  → usually location: in the purse (where something is or is happening)

• í veskið – accusative
  → usually movement/direction: into the purse (where something is going)

Examples:

• Lykillinn er í veskinu.
  The key is in the purse. (where it is)

• Ég set lykilinn í veskið.
  I put the key into the purse. (movement into)

In Ég finn ekki lykilinn í veskinu, you are talking about where you are looking / where it is supposed to be, so dative: í veskinu is correct.

Can I change the word order of Ég finn ekki lykilinn í veskinu?

Normal, neutral word order is:

Ég finn ekki lykilinn í veskinu.
Subject – Verb – ekki – Object – Prepositional phrase

Some variations are possible but change emphasis:

• Ég finn lykilinn ekki í veskinu (heldur einhvers staðar annars staðar).
  Puts “ekki” closer to “í veskinu”, and can sound like:
  “I find the key, but not in the purse (rather somewhere else).”

• Ég finn ekki í veskinu lykilinn.
  This is awkward/unusual in normal speech.

Key point: in simple statements, Icelandic usually has:

• subject – verb – (negation) – object – other information

So Ég finn ekki lykilinn í veskinu is the standard, natural order.

How would I say the same sentence without “not”, i.e. “I find the key in the purse.”?

Just remove ekki:

• Ég finn lykilinn í veskinu.
  = I find the key in the purse.

Structure:

• Ég – I
• finn – find
• lykilinn – the key (accusative)
• í veskinu – in the purse (dative after í for location)

How would I turn this into a yes/no question, like “Don’t you find the key in the purse?”?

Icelandic yes/no questions typically put the verb first, then the subject.

For “Don’t you find the key in the purse?” (informal you):

• Finnur þú ekki lykilinn í veskinu?

Breakdown:

• Finnur – do you find (2nd person singular)
• þú – you (singular)
• ekki – not
• lykilinn – the key (accusative)
• í veskinu – in the purse (dative)

So:

Finnur þú ekki lykilinn í veskinu?
Don’t you find the key in the purse?

How would I say “I can’t find my key in my purse” in Icelandic?

You add possessive pronouns that follow the noun and agree in gender, number, and case.

A natural version:

• Ég finn ekki lykilinn minn í veskinu mínu.
  = I can’t find my key in my purse.

Here:

• lykilinn – the key (masculine, acc. sg.)

• minn – my (masculine, acc. sg., agreeing with lykilinn)

• veskinu – the purse (neuter, dat. sg.)
• mínu – my (neuter, dat. sg., agreeing with veskinu)

So the pattern is [noun + definite ending] + [possessive pronoun], not the other way around.

What are the grammatical genders of lykill and veski, and why does that matter?

• lykill (a key) is masculine.
• veski (a purse / wallet) is neuter.

Gender matters because it determines:

1. How the noun declines in different cases.
2. What endings the definite article and adjectives/possessives take.

Examples:

• Masculine lykill → lykilinn (accusative singular definite)
• Neuter veski → veskinu (dative singular definite)

And with possessive “my”:

• lykilinn minn – my key (masc. acc. sg.)
• veskinu mínu – in my purse (neut. dat. sg.)

How would I say “I can’t find the keys in the purse” (plural “keys”)?

You need the plural of lykill and the correct case (accusative plural).

Common forms of lykill (key):

• Nominative plural: lyklar – keys (as subject)
• Accusative plural: lykla / lyklana
  
  • lykla – (indefinite) keys
  • lyklana – (definite) the keys

In your sentence, it’s definite and an object, so:

• Ég finn ekki lyklana í veskinu.
  = I can’t find the keys in the purse.

How is Ég finn ekki lykilinn í veskinu pronounced?

Approximate IPA and a few notes:

• Ég – [jɛiː] or [jɛː] (often like “yei” / “yeh”)
• finn – [fɪnː] (double nn = long n sound)
• ekki – [ˈɛhcɪ] or [ˈɛhçɪ] (the kk is pronounced with a kind of hard h sound)
• lykilinn – [ˈlɪːcɪlɪn]
  
  • ll in Icelandic is often [tl̥]/[dl̥]; here it can sound a bit like “l-til-inn” to English ears.
• í – [iː] (like “ee” in “see”, long)
• veskinu – [ˈvɛskɪnʏ] (short e and i, final u like [ʏ], similar to German “ü” but short)

Spoken smoothly, it might sound roughly like:

[jɛiː fɪnː ˈɛhcɪ ˈlɪːcɪlɪn iː ˈvɛskɪnʏ]