Hóstinn hennar er verri á nóttunni, en hún er ekki með hita.

Her cough is worse at night, but she doesn’t have a fever.

Breakdown of Hóstinn hennar er verri á nóttunni, en hún er ekki með hita.

• vera: to be
• ekki: not
• hún: she
• en: but
• á: at
• vera með: to have
• hennar: her
• nóttin: the night
• verri: worse
• hóstinn: the cough
• hitinn: the fever

Questions & Answers about Hóstinn hennar er verri á nóttunni, en hún er ekki með hita.

Why does hósti become hóstinn here?

Hóstinn is hósti (cough) with the definite article attached as a suffix: -inn (masculine singular nominative).
So hóstinn hennar literally means the cough of hers → her cough.

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Why is hennar placed after the noun instead of before it?

In Icelandic, possessive pronouns like hennar (her) commonly come after the noun: hóstinn hennar.
This is a very normal pattern, especially when the noun is definite.

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What case is hennar, and why?

Hennar is genitive (the “of her” form). Possession in Icelandic is typically expressed with the genitive:
hóstinn hennar = the cough (of her).

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Why is it er verri and not something like er verra?

Because verri is an adjective that agrees with the subject hóstinn (masculine singular nominative).

• masculine sg nom: verri
• neuter sg nom/acc would be verra, but that would match a neuter subject, not hóstinn.

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Is verri the comparative of a specific adjective?

Yes. Verri is the comparative meaning worse (commonly taught as the comparative of vondur = bad, though it functions broadly as “worse” in general).
The basic set is:

• vondur (bad)
• verri (worse)
• verstur (worst)

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Why is á nóttunni in the dative?

The preposition á often takes the dative when it expresses time/when something happens (especially a general/recurring time).
So á nóttunni uses dative: nóttunni = dative singular definite of nótt (night).

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What’s the difference between á nóttunni and um nóttina?

Both can translate as “at night,” but they often differ in feel:

• á nóttunni often means during the night / at night (as a time period, often recurring/general)
• um nóttina often means at night / during the night, and can feel a bit more like “overnight” or “during the nighttime hours” (also common)

In many everyday contexts they overlap, but á nóttunni is very common for symptoms being worse at night.

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Why use en here—does it always mean “but”?

En is a common conjunction meaning but (contrast). It can also mean than in comparisons, but here the comma + contrast makes it clearly but:
..., en hún er ekki með hita. = ..., but she doesn’t have a fever.

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Why is ekki placed after er?

In main clauses, Icelandic normally puts the finite verb early (often 2nd position), and ekki typically comes after that finite verb:
hún er ekki ...
This is one of the most consistent word-order patterns you’ll see.

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Why does Icelandic say vera með hita instead of using a verb meaning “to have”?

For illnesses and symptoms, Icelandic very often uses vera með + accusative (literally “to be with”):

• vera með hita = to have a fever
• vera með hósta = to have a cough

You can sometimes use hafa, but vera með is extremely common and natural for medical/symptom contexts.

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What case is hita, and why is there no article on it?

Með governs the accusative, so hiti becomes hita (accusative singular).
There’s usually no article because fever here is treated like an uncountable condition (“with fever”), not a specific, already-identified fever.

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Why is the subject repeated as hún in the second clause?

Because the sentence has two clauses joined by en (but), and Icelandic normally states the subject of the new clause explicitly:
Hóstinn hennar er verri á nóttunni, en hún er ekki með hita.
It keeps the contrast clear: worse cough, but she has no fever.