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Innkaupakarfan er full af eplum.

Innkaupakarfan er full af eplum.
The shopping basket is full of apples.
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Questions & Answers about Innkaupakarfan er full af eplum.

Why does innkaupakarfa become innkaupakarfan here?

Because Icelandic commonly expresses the with a definite suffix attached to the noun.

  • innkaupakarfa = a shopping basket (indefinite)
  • innkaupakarfan = the shopping basket (definite)
    The -n (or -inn/-in/-ið) ending changes depending on gender, case, and declension type. Here it’s feminine singular nominative definite, which can surface as -an for this noun’s pattern.
How do I know innkaupakarfan is feminine, and does that matter?

It matters because gender controls endings on the noun (and agreement on adjectives/pronouns). karfa is a common feminine noun pattern in Icelandic (many nouns ending in -a are feminine, though not all). In this sentence, feminine gender is why the definite ending looks the way it does and why you’d use forms like full (not a feminine form) in the predicate in a specific way (see other questions).

Why is the word order Innkaupakarfan er full af eplum and not something like Er innkaupakarfan full…?

The neutral statement order is:

  • Subject + verb + complement
    So: Innkaupakarfan (subject) + er (is) + full af eplum (predicate/adjectival phrase).
    You can start with the verb (Er innkaupakarfan full af eplum?) to form a yes/no question, similar to English inversion.
What is er exactly, and does it change?

er is the present tense, 3rd person singular form of the verb að vera (to be). It changes by person/number, e.g.:

  • ég er = I am
  • þú ert = you are
  • hann/hún/það er = he/she/it is
  • við erum, þið eruð, þeir/þær/þau eru = we/you(pl)/they are
Why is it full and not an ending like fulla or something agreeing with innkaupakarfan?

In Icelandic, predicate adjectives (after að vera, to be) typically appear in the nominative and agree with the subject in gender/number/case. Here, the subject is feminine singular nominative (innkaupakarfan), so you might expect a feminine form.
However, fullur is an adjective with forms:

  • masculine: fullur
  • feminine: full
  • neuter: fullt

So full is the feminine nominative singular form already. (It just happens to look like a “bare” form.)

Why do we use af here? Doesn’t it mean of/from?

Yes—af often means of/from, but Icelandic uses fullur af X as the standard pattern for full of X. So full af eplum is the natural equivalent of full of apples.

Why is it eplum instead of epli or eplið?

Because af governs the dative case.

  • singular: epli (nominative/accusative), epli (often also dative in singular for this noun)
  • plural nominative/accusative: epli
  • plural dative: eplum
    Since the basket is full of apples (plural) and af requires dative, you get eplum.
So is eplum definite or indefinite? Where is the?

eplum here is indefinite (just apples, not the apples). Icelandic often leaves the contents indefinite in expressions like this, similar to English full of apples.
If you specifically meant the apples, you’d typically use a definite form (often with a suffix), e.g. eplunum (dative plural definite) in contexts where that’s appropriate.

How would I make it plural: “The shopping baskets are full of apples”?

One natural version is:

  • Innkaupakörfurnar eru fullar af eplum.
    Changes:
  • innkaupakarfan → innkaupakörfurnar (plural definite)
  • er → eru
  • adjective agrees: full → fullar (feminine plural nominative)
What’s going on with the compound noun innkaupakarfa?

It’s a compound:

  • innkaup = shopping (literally “purchases”)
  • karfa = basket
    Together: innkaupakarfa = shopping basket.
    Compounds are extremely common in Icelandic, and the last element (karfa) determines the gender and declension of the whole compound.
How do you pronounce Innkaupakarfan er full af eplum?

A practical guide (approximate):

  • Innkaupakarfan: INN-køy-pa-kar-van (the au is like øy in many accents; f before a vowel can sound like v in some contexts, so -fan may sound close to -van)
  • er: like eh(r) (very short)
  • full: like futl with a rounded u (not like English full)
  • af: often sounds like av in connected speech
  • eplum: EP-lum (short e, and u is rounded)

(Exact pronunciation varies by speaker and region, but these cues help you get close.)

Could I also say með eplum for “with apples”?
Not naturally in this meaning. með = with usually indicates accompaniment or possession in a different sense (e.g., koma með epli = bring an apple / come with apples). For the idea of being full of something, Icelandic strongly prefers full(ur) af.