Breakdown of Varan er of dýr, svo ég kaupi hana ekki.
Questions & Answers about Varan er of dýr, svo ég kaupi hana ekki.
Varan is vara (item / product / goods) with the definite article attached as a suffix.
- vara = an item / a product (indefinite)
- varan = the item / the product (definite)
The ending -an is the definite nominative singular ending for many feminine nouns like vara.
Varan is nominative singular because it is the subject of the clause and it’s linked to an adjective by the verb er (from vera, to be):
Varan er of dýr = The item is too expensive.
In Icelandic, the subject of a normal “X is Y” sentence is typically nominative.
Er is the 3rd person singular present tense of vera (to be). It’s used to link the subject to a description:
- Varan er dýr. = The item is expensive.
So er is the natural choice when you’re stating what something is like.
No—of here is an Icelandic adverb meaning too (as in too expensive, too big, etc.). It is not the English preposition of.
Examples:
- of stór = too big
- of seint = too late
- of dýr = too expensive
It is matching. Dýr is an adjective meaning expensive, and in the feminine nominative singular it is dýr. The neuter form would be different:
- Varan (fem.) er dýr.
- Húsið (neut.) er dýrt. (The house is expensive.)
So the lack of an ending here is actually the correct agreement form.
Yes, dýr can mean:
1) expensive (adjective)
2) animal (noun)
Here it’s clearly the adjective expensive because it follows er in the pattern X er [adjective], and it’s modified by of (too): of dýr = too expensive.
Here svo works like so / therefore: it connects the first clause (cause) to the second clause (result):
Varan er of dýr, svo ég kaupi hana ekki.
= The item is too expensive, so I’m not buying it.
Svo can also mean then in other contexts, but in this structure it commonly means so.
Because you have two clauses, and svo is introducing the second one. A comma is standard in Icelandic for separating clauses like this:
- [Clause 1], svo [Clause 2].
You’ll also see alternatives like:
- …, þannig að ég kaupi hana ekki. (…, so that I don’t buy it / therefore I don’t buy it.)
Kaupi is the 1st person singular present tense form of kaupa (to buy):
- ég kaupi = I buy / I am buying
Kaupa is the infinitive (to buy), so it wouldn’t fit after ég in a normal statement.
Form-wise, kaupi can look the same in the present indicative and present subjunctive for many verbs. In this sentence it functions as a normal statement about what you do, so it’s best understood as present indicative:
- svo ég kaupi hana ekki = so I don’t buy it.
(If you later learn subjunctive uses, you’ll see it more clearly in contexts like wishes, uncertainty, certain subordinate clauses, etc.)
Hana means her / it (accusative, feminine singular). It refers back to varan, which is feminine.
Icelandic pronouns reflect gender and case, so you choose the form that matches both:
- The object of kaupa (to buy) is typically accusative.
- varan is feminine → accusative pronoun is hana.
Other genders for “it”:
- masculine: hann (acc.)
- neuter: það (acc.)
In a simple clause like this, ekki commonly comes after the object, especially when the object is a pronoun:
- Ég kaupi hana ekki. = I don’t buy it.
You can move things for emphasis, but it changes the feel:
- Ég kaupi ekki hana. = I’m not buying *it (but maybe something else).*
So the given order is the most neutral/natural for “I don’t buy it.”
Yes. In main clauses Icelandic generally follows the V2 (verb-second) tendency: the finite verb tends to appear early, with only one “slot” before it (subject or another element).
In the second clause: svo ég kaupi hana ekki
- ég comes before the verb, and the finite verb kaupi comes right after it.
And in the first clause: Varan er of dýr
- Varan is first, er is second.