Questions & Answers about Sonurinn er ungur og dóttirin er líka ung.
What does the ending -urinn in sonurinn mean?
The ending -urinn is the definite article attached to the noun.
- sonur = a son
- sonurinn = the son
In Icelandic, “the” is usually not a separate word. Instead, it is added to the end of the noun as a suffix:
- masculine nominative singular often ends in -inn / -urinn
- hestur → hesturinn (the horse)
- sonur → sonurinn (the son)
Why is it dóttirin and not dóttirinn?
Because dóttir (daughter) is feminine, and the feminine definite ending in the nominative singular is -in, not -inn.
- dóttir = a daughter
- dóttirin = the daughter
So:
- masculine: sonur → sonurinn (the son)
- feminine: dóttir → dóttirin (the daughter)
The spelling change is mostly about how Icelandic attaches endings. You don’t say dóttirinn; that would be considered wrong in standard Icelandic.