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Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Tilfinningin er góð í dag. - The feeling is good today.

Hardcore Icelandic
/Lesson 26
/Tilfinningin er góð í dag.

Tilfinningin er góð í dag.

Word

Tilfinningin er góð í dag.

Meaning

The feeling is good today.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Icelandic

Lesson

Breakdown of Tilfinningin er góð í dag.

Questions & Answers about Tilfinningin er góð í dag.

Why does tilfinningin end in -in? Where is “the”?

Icelandic does not use a separate word for “the” in most cases. Instead, it attaches a definite ending to the noun.

tilfinning = feeling (indefinite)
tilfinningin = the feeling (definite)

For feminine nouns like tilfinning, the nominative singular definite ending is -in. So tilfinningin literally means “the feeling” and that -in is your “the”.

What gender, number and case is tilfinningin, and how do you know?

tilfinningin is:

Gender: feminine
Number: singular
Case: nominative
Definiteness: definite (because of -in)

How to see it:

Dictionaries list the noun as tilfinning (kvk.), where kvk. = kvenkyn (feminine).
As the subject of the verb er, it normally must be in the nominative case.
The ending -in is the regular feminine nominative singular definite ending.

Why is it góð and not góður or ?

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gott

The base form of the adjective is góður (good), but adjectives must agree with the noun in:

gender
number
case

Since tilfinningin is feminine, singular, nominative, the adjective must also be feminine singular nominative:

masculine: góður maður – a good man
feminine: góð tilfinning – a good feeling
neuter: gott barn – a good child

So in your sentence:

tilfinningin – feminine singular nominative
góð – feminine singular nominative

Hence Tilfinningin er góð í dag.

Where is the word “it” in this sentence?

There is no separate “it” here. The subject is the noun itself: tilfinningin (the feeling).

English might say:

“It feels good today.”

Icelandic instead literally says:

“The feeling is good today.” → Tilfinningin er góð í dag.

So:

tilfinningin = subject (the feeling / it)
er = is
góð = good
í dag = today

Icelandic does use a dummy “it” (það) in some structures (especially weather: Það rignir – It’s raining), but here the real subject is already present, so you don’t add það.

Can I change the word order, for example start with Í dag?

Yes. Two very natural options are:

Tilfinningin er góð í dag. – neutral, subject first
Í dag er tilfinningin góð. – puts a bit of emphasis on today

Icelandic is a verb‑second (V2) language, so if you move Í dag (an adverbial) to the front, the finite verb er must still come second:

✔ Í dag er tilfinningin góð.
✘ Í dag tilfinningin er góð. (ungrammatical)

Is this a natural way to say “I feel good today” in Icelandic?

It’s grammatical, but as a stand‑alone sentence it sounds slightly more like you’re commenting on some specific, already‑mentioned feeling: “The feeling is good today.”

For the everyday idea “I feel good today”, Icelandic speakers more often say:

Mér líður vel í dag. – literally “To me feels well today.”
- mér = to me (dative of ég)
- líður = feels (from að líða, “to feel (emotionally/physically)”)
- vel = well
Ég er í góðu skapi í dag. – I’m in a good mood today.

So:

Tilfinningin er góð í dag. – The feeling is good today. (fine, but more specific/abstract)
Mér líður vel í dag. – most idiomatic for “I feel good today.”

How would the sentence look if I wanted to say “The feelings are good today” (plural)?

Plural of tilfinning (feeling) is tilfinningar, and the definite plural is tilfinningarnar (the feelings). The adjective must also be feminine plural nominative: góðar.

So:

Tilfinningarnar eru góðar í dag.
- tilfinningarnar – the feelings (fem. nom. pl. definite)
- eru – are (plural of er)
- góðar – good (fem. nom. pl.)
- í dag – today

What exactly is í dag grammatically? Which case is dag in?

Í dag is a common time expression meaning “today”.

í = a preposition meaning in / on / at
dag = day (from dagur)

For time expressions, í usually takes the accusative case:

noun dagur (nom.) → dag (acc.)

So í dag is literally something like “in (this) day”, functioning as an adverbial of time. There’s no article here; it’s just a fixed, very common phrase.

How do you pronounce Tilfinningin er góð í dag?

Approximate pronunciation (very learner‑friendly):

Tilfinningin ≈ TIL-fin-ning-in
er ≈ ehr (like “air” but shorter)
góð ≈ goath (with th as in this, not thing)
í ≈ ee
dag ≈ dahg (with a soft, almost gh-like g)

In IPA (one common approximation):

Tilfinningin er góð í dag → [ˈtʰɪlˌfɪnɪŋɪn ɛr ˈkouːð iː ˈtaːɣ]

The key unusual sounds for English speakers are:

ð in góð – like the th in this
final g in dag – a soft, fricative sound [ɣ], not a hard English g

Could I also say Góð tilfinning í dag, and what would be the difference?

Yes, you might hear:

Góð tilfinning í dag.

This is more like a short exclamation or fragment than a full sentence, similar to English:

“Good feeling today.”
“Nice feeling today.”

Your original:

Tilfinningin er góð í dag. – a complete sentence with a clear subject and verb: “The feeling is good today.”

Góð tilfinning í dag is perfectly understandable and natural in informal speech, especially as a comment or reaction, but grammatically it’s just a noun phrase, not a full clause.

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