Breakdown of Í kvöld fær afmælisbarnið gjöf.
í kvöld
tonight
fá
to get
afmælisbarnið
the birthday person
gjöfin
the gift
Questions & Answers about Í kvöld fær afmælisbarnið gjöf.
Why does the sentence start with Í kvöld (Tonight)? Does that change the word order?
Yes. Í kvöld is an adverbial time phrase placed first for emphasis/topic. Icelandic is a V2 (verb-second) language in main clauses: when something other than the subject comes first, the finite verb typically comes next.
So after Í kvöld, the verb fær comes immediately, and the subject afmælisbarnið follows:
Í kvöld + fær + afmælisbarnið + gjöf.
If you start with the subject instead, you’d normally get: Afmælisbarnið fær gjöf í kvöld.
What case is kvöld in, and why?
In Í kvöld, kvöld is in the accusative singular. With í, Icelandic uses:
- accusative for direction/movement or for some fixed time expressions (like this one),
- dative for location (being in/at a place).
Í kvöld is a very common fixed expression meaning tonight, and it uses accusative.
What exactly is afmælisbarnið made of? Why is it such a long word?