Dóttirin er eins forvitin og sonurinn.

The daughter is as curious as the son.

Breakdown of Dóttirin er eins forvitin og sonurinn.

• vera: to be
• forvitinn: curious
• sonurinn: the son
• dóttirin: the daughter
• eins ... og: as ... as

Questions & Answers about Dóttirin er eins forvitin og sonurinn.

Why do we say dóttirin and sonurinn instead of just dóttir and sonur?

Icelandic usually shows “the” by adding a suffix to the noun instead of using a separate word.

• dóttir = daughter

• dóttirin = the daughter (dóttir

  • -in, the feminine definite ending)

• sonur = son
• sonurinn = the son (sonur
  • -inn, the masculine definite ending)

In your sentence we’re talking about specific children (not just any daughter or son), so Icelandic uses the definite form: dóttirin, sonurinn.

What does eins … og mean, and how is it different from English?

eins … og is the normal way to say “as … as” in Icelandic when you compare degrees of an adjective.

Pattern:

• X er eins ADJECTIVE og Y
  = X is as ADJECTIVE as Y.

In your sentence:

• Dóttirin er eins forvitin og sonurinn.
  = The daughter is as curious as the son.

So:

• eins ≈ equally / to the same degree
• og ≈ as (in this comparison construction)

Is og here the same word as “and” in Icelandic?

Yes, it is the same word og that usually means “and”, but in comparison patterns with eins (or jafn), og is better translated as “as”:

• og by itself:
  
  • Dóttirin og sonurinn = the daughter and the son.
• in eins … og:
  
  • eins forvitin og sonurinn = as curious as the son.

So the word is the same, but the construction makes the English equivalent “as” rather than “and”.

Why is the adjective forvitin and not forvitinn?

The base adjective is:

• forvitinn = curious (dictionary form, masculine nominative singular)

Adjectives must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

• dóttir is feminine, nominative singular.
• Therefore the adjective must be feminine nominative singular: forvitin (one n).

Main forms (strong declension, nominative singular):

• Masculine: forvitinn
• Feminine: forvitin
• Neuter: forvitið

Since dóttirin is feminine, we say:

• Dóttirin er forvitin.
• Dóttirin er eins forvitin og sonurinn.

Why are dóttirin and sonurinn both in the nominative case?

The verb “to be” (vera, here er) usually links a subject to a complement. In Icelandic, that complement is often also in the nominative, especially in simple identity / description sentences.

Structure here:

• Subject: Dóttirin (nominative)
• Verb: er
• Complement (comparison target): sonurinn (nominative)

You can think of it as a kind of “equals” relation:

• The daughter (nom) = the son (nom) in terms of how curious they are.

So both appear in the nominative after er in this pattern.

Can I say “Dóttirin er forvitin eins og sonurinn” instead?

You can say:

• Dóttirin er forvitin eins og sonurinn.

This is understandable and often used in speech. It usually means something like:

• The daughter is curious, like the son (is).

However, “Dóttirin er eins forvitin og sonurinn” focuses more clearly on equal degree:

• eins forvitin og = as curious as.

So:

• forvitin eins og sonurinn can mean “curious, like the son” (similar quality, not always emphasizing equality of degree).
• eins forvitin og sonurinn very clearly means “equally curious / just as curious as the son.”

What’s the difference between eins … og and jafn … og?

Both patterns express “as … as” and are very close in meaning:

• X er eins ADJECTIVE og Y.
• X er jafn ADJECTIVE og Y.

Examples:

• Hún er eins forvitin og hann.
• Hún er jafn forvitin og hann.
  Both: She is as curious as he is.

Differences in feel:

• eins … og – very common in everyday speech.
• jafn … og – also common, sometimes sounds a bit more neutral or slightly more formal.
  You also see it written together with the adjective: jafnforvitin.

In most contexts, you can treat them as interchangeable.

How do you decline dóttir and sonur in the singular? I’m confused by the different forms.

Here are the singular case forms (without and with the definite article). Bold = nominative form used in your sentence.

dóttir (daughter, feminine)

• Nominative: dóttir → dóttirin (the daughter)
• Accusative: dóttur → dótturina
• Dative: dóttur → dótturinni
• Genitive: dóttur → dótturinnar

sonur (son, masculine)

• Nominative: sonur → sonurinn (the son)
• Accusative: son → soninn
• Dative: syni → syninum
• Genitive: sonar → sonarins

In your sentence both are nominative definite:

• dóttirin
• sonurinn

How would the sentence change if both children were the subject, e.g. “The daughter and the son are equally curious”?

You would then have a plural subject and a plural verb:

• Dóttirin og sonurinn eru eins forvitin.
  or
• Dóttirin og sonurinn eru jafn forvitin.

Notes:

• eru = plural of er (are vs is).
• Adjective forvitin here is plural nominative (for any mixed-gender group, masculine plural rules apply, but the form happens to be the same as feminine singular: forvitin).

Meaning: The daughter and the son are equally curious.

How do you pronounce “Dóttirin er eins forvitin og sonurinn”?

Very rough English-style approximation (syllables separated by hyphens):

• Dóttirin ≈ DOH-ttir-in

  • ó like “oh”
  • tt has a strong puff of air (preaspirated, something like h-tt)
  • stress on the first syllable: DÓTT-irin

• er ≈ air but short

• eins ≈ ains (like English “ains” in “plains” but shorter)

• forvitin ≈ FOR-vi-tin

  • o like in “for” but shorter
  • i like in “bit”
  • stress on FOR

• og ≈ somewhere between og and okh

  • often sounds like a short “oh/og” with a soft g, sometimes almost disappearing in fast speech.

• sonurinn ≈ SO-nu-rin

  • o like English “saw” but shorter
  • u like the “u” in French lune or German Müll (a front rounded vowel)
  • stress on SO

Main stress in Icelandic is almost always on the first syllable of each word, which helps with rhythm:
DÓTT-irin er EINS FOR-vi-tin og SÓ-nu-rinn.