Questions & Answers about Ég bursta tennurnar fyrst, svo fer ég að sofa.
Why does tennur become tennurnar here?
tennurnar is tennur (teeth, plural) with the definite article attached (-nar), so it literally means the teeth. In everyday Icelandic, body parts are often expressed with the definite form where English would use a possessive: bursta tennurnar = brush (my) teeth.
If it means “my teeth,” why isn’t there a word for “my” (mínar)?
Icelandic commonly skips the possessive with body parts when it’s obvious whose they are, especially with everyday actions:
- Ég bursta tennurnar. = I brush my teeth. If you want to be explicit or contrastive, you can add a possessive:
- Ég bursta tennurnar mínar. = I brush my teeth (as opposed to someone else’s / for emphasis). Another very common pattern is:
- Ég bursta mér tennurnar. (lit. I brush the teeth for myself) — this strongly signals they’re your own.
What case is tennurnar in, and how do I know?