Ráðstefnan er í háskólanum í dag.

to be

Breakdown of Ráðstefnan er í háskólanum í dag.

• í: at
• í dag: today
• háskólinn: the university

Questions & Answers about Ráðstefnan er í háskólanum í dag.

Why is there no separate word for “the” in the Icelandic sentence?

Icelandic usually does not use a separate word for “the”.
Instead, it attaches a definite article ending directly to the noun.

In ráðstefnan er í háskólanum í dag:

• ráðstefna = conference
• ráðstefn
  • an → ráðstefnan = the conference (feminine, nominative, singular, definite)
• háskóli = university
• háskóla
  • num → háskólanum = the university (masculine, dative, singular, definite)

So the meaning “the conference is at the university today” is expressed without a separate word like English “the”—it is “built into” the noun endings.

What does the ending -an in ráðstefnan mean exactly?

The ending -an makes the noun definite and also shows gender, number, and case.

Base noun:

• ráðstefna = a conference (feminine, nominative singular, indefinite)

With the definite ending:

• ráðstefn
  • an → ráðstefnan = the conference (feminine, nominative singular, definite)

So:

• = “a conference”