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Lyfið er til staðar í apótekinu.

Lyfið er til staðar í apótekinu.
The medicine is available at the pharmacy.

Breakdown of Lyfið er til staðar í apótekinu.

vera
to be
í
at
apótekið
the pharmacy
lyfið
the medicine
til staðar
available
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Questions & Answers about Lyfið er til staðar í apótekinu.

Why is lyfið written with -ið at the end? What form is it?

Lyfið is lyf (medicine/medication) in the definite form: lyf + -ið = lyfið (the medicine).

  • lyf is neuter in Icelandic.
  • In the nominative singular, neuter definite nouns typically end in -ið.
Why does the sentence use er? How does Icelandic “to be” work here?

Er is the 3rd person singular present tense of vera (to be). It agrees with the subject lyfið (singular).
So Lyfið er ... = The medicine is ...

What does til staðar mean, and why is it two words?

Til staðar is a common fixed expression meaning present / available / on hand (literally something like to (the) place, but used idiomatically). It’s usually used as a unit:

  • vera til staðar = to be present / to be available

You generally don’t translate or parse it word-for-word in normal usage.

What’s the difference between til staðar and something like hér (“here”)?

Hér mainly indicates location (here).
Til staðar emphasizes availability/presence—that something exists there and can be gotten. In a pharmacy context it’s closer to in stock / available than just “located there.”

Why is it í apótekinu and not í apótek?

Because í (when used for a static location) governs the dative case, and the noun is also in the definite form:

  • apótek (a pharmacy) → dative singular apóteki
  • definite dative singular → apótekinu (in the pharmacy)

So í apótekinu = in the pharmacy.

How do I know that í takes the dative here?

Many Icelandic prepositions choose case based on meaning. Í can take:

  • dative for location/staying (in/at)
  • accusative for motion into (into)

Here the verb er describes a state, not motion, so it’s location → í + dative: í apótekinu.

Is apótekinu singular or plural?

It’s singular: the pharmacy (not “the pharmacies”).
Plural would look different, e.g. í apótekunum = in the pharmacies (dative plural definite).

Is the word order fixed? Could I move parts of the sentence around?

You can vary word order somewhat, but Icelandic still has strong patterns. The neutral order here is:

  • Subject + verb + predicate/adverbials: Lyfið er til staðar í apótekinu.

Possible alternatives for emphasis include:

  • Í apótekinu er lyfið til staðar. (emphasizes the location; note verb-second positioning)
Why is there no word like “there” (as in “is there”)?

Icelandic doesn’t require a dummy “there” in the same way English does. Instead it often uses:

  • normal subject sentences: Lyfið er til staðar ...
    or
  • existential constructions like það er ..., depending on style and what you want to emphasize.

Here, the subject lyfið is explicit, so no “there” is needed.

Could I also say Lyfið er í apótekinu without til staðar?

Yes, but it shifts the nuance:

  • Lyfið er í apótekinu. = The medicine is in the pharmacy (location-focused; could just mean it’s physically there somewhere).
  • Lyfið er til staðar í apótekinu. = The medicine is available/in stock at the pharmacy (availability-focused).
Why is Lyfið capitalized?

Because it’s the first word of the sentence. Icelandic does not capitalize nouns in general (unlike German).

What is the base (dictionary) form of apótekinu?

The dictionary form is apótek (indefinite nominative singular).
From there:

  • dative singular indefinite: apóteki
  • dative singular definite: apótekinu