Breakdown of Leigjandinn í íbúðinni fyrir neðan mig hringdi líka í leigusalann um sömu bilun.
Questions & Answers about Leigjandinn í íbúðinni fyrir neðan mig hringdi líka í leigusalann um sömu bilun.
Those endings mark the definite form (roughly the in English), but Icelandic attaches it to the noun:
- leigjand-ur = a tenant → leigjand-inn = the tenant
- íbúð = an apartment → íbúð-inni = the apartment (here also showing case; see next questions)
- leigusali = a landlord → leigusala-nn = the landlord (again, also case-marked)
So the sentence is talking about specific, known people/places: the tenant, the apartment, the landlord.
A quick case map of the sentence:
- Leigjandinn = nominative (subject: the one who did the calling)
- í íbúðinni = dative (location after í = in where someone is)
- fyrir neðan mig = accusative after fyrir neðan (below someone)
- í leigusalann = accusative after hringja í (call someone)
- um sömu bilun = accusative after um (about something)
Icelandic prepositions often “select” a case, and some (like í) change case depending on meaning (location vs. movement).
With í:
- í + dative = location/state (in a place, no movement): í íbúðinni = in the apartment
- í + accusative = movement into (into a place): e.g. fara í íbúðina = go into the apartment
Here it’s describing where the tenant is (which apartment they’re in), so it uses dative: í íbúðinni.
Because:
- the preposition is í = in
- the noun íbúð begins with í
So you get í íbúðinni = in the apartment. It’s normal in Icelandic; you just pronounce them as two separate words.
fyrir neðan is treated like a preposition meaning below, and it takes the accusative case:
- mig = accusative of ég (I/me)
- mér would be dative, so it doesn’t fit here
So fyrir neðan mig = below me.
Yes. The core subject is Leigjandinn (the tenant), and everything after it is just extra information describing which tenant:
- í íbúðinni = in the apartment
- fyrir neðan mig = below me
So the full subject phrase is: The tenant [in the apartment below me].
hringdi is the past tense (preterite), 3rd person singular of hringja (to call / to ring).
- infinitive: að hringja
- past (he/she/it): hringdi
It’s singular because the subject Leigjandinn is singular.
In Icelandic, to call someone (by phone) is commonly expressed as hringja í + accusative:
- hringja í leigusalann = call the landlord
So that í isn’t “in” in a literal location sense; it’s part of the verb pattern (a set construction).
líka (also) often goes:
- right after the finite verb, or
- in the “middle field” of the clause
hringdi líka is very natural and usually means: did the action as well (also called). You could move líka in some contexts for emphasis, but this default placement is common.
Because sami (same) must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.
bilun is feminine singular, and after um it’s accusative. The feminine accusative singular form is sömu:
- masculine: sama (acc. sg.)
- feminine: sömu (acc. sg.)
- neuter: sama (acc. sg.)
So: um sömu bilun = about the same malfunction.
In main clauses Icelandic follows the V2 rule: the finite verb is typically in second position.
Here, the first “slot” is taken by the whole subject phrase:
1) Leigjandinn í íbúðinni fyrir neðan mig (one big constituent)
2) hringdi (finite verb)
So it still counts as verb-second even though the subject contains a lot of extra description.
Because it’s the object of hringja í, which takes accusative.
For leigusali:
- indefinite accusative singular: leigusalann? (actually, the definite ending is what you’re seeing clearly here)
- definite accusative singular is leigusalann = the landlord (as object)
The -nn is the definite accusative singular ending for many masculine nouns of this type, and it signals both definiteness and case.
Yes—both are built from leiga (to rent/lease):
- leigjandi = tenant (literally “one who rents”)
- leigusali = landlord (literally “one who sells/lets out a lease”)
Learning these as word families helps a lot, because Icelandic uses compounding and derivation heavily.