Questions & Answers about Vináttan okkar gefur mér gleði.
What does each word in Vináttan okkar gefur mér gleði correspond to in English?
Word-by-word:
vináttan – the friendship
- vinátta = friendship
- -n = the (definite article attached to the noun)
okkar – our / of us
- genitive plural of við (we)
gefur – gives
- 3rd person singular present of gefa (to give)
mér – to me
- dative of ég (I)
gleði – joy
So the literal structure is: “The friendship our gives to‑me joy.”
Natural English: “Our friendship gives me joy.”
Why is it vináttan and not just vinátta?
Vináttan has the definite article -n attached, so it means the friendship rather than just friendship.
- vinátta = friendship (indefinite)
- vináttan = the friendship (definite)
In this sentence, vináttan okkar is talking about a specific, known friendship (ours), so Icelandic normally uses the definite form.
Compare:
- – Friendship is important. (general idea)