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Fjórir hestar eru í garðinum.

Fjórir hestar eru í garðinum.
Four horses are in the garden.

Breakdown of Fjórir hestar eru í garðinum.

vera
to be
í
in
garðurinn
the garden
hesturinn
the horse
fjórir
four
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Questions & Answers about Fjórir hestar eru í garðinum.

Why is it fjórir and not fjóra?

Because fjórir is the nominative masculine plural form of the numeral fjórir (4), and it must agree with the noun it counts.

  • hestur (horse) is masculine
  • the sentence subject Fjórir hestar is in the nominative
    So you get fjórir hestar.
    (fjóra is used in other cases, e.g. genitive/accusative in many contexts: Ég sé fjóra hesta = I see four horses.)
Why is hestar ending in -ar?

hestar is the nominative plural of hestur. Many masculine nouns form the nominative plural with -ar:

  • hestur → hestar
    This matches the numeral and functions as the subject of the sentence.
Why is the verb eru used instead of er?

eru is the plural form of vera (to be). Since the subject is plural (Fjórir hestar), the verb must be plural too:

  • Ég er (I am)
  • Hann er (he is)
  • Þeir eru (they are)
    So: Fjórir hestar eru ...
What case does í take here, and why?

í can take either accusative or dative, depending on meaning:

  • accusative = movement into (destination)
  • dative = location in/at (no movement)

Here it describes location (the horses are already there), so it takes dative:

  • í garðinum (dative) = in the yard/garden.
Why is it garðinum and not garður or garðinn?

Because garðinum is dative singular definite of garður.
You need:
1) dative (required by í for location), and
2) definite (because it means the yard/garden).

Roughly:

  • garður = nominative singular (subject form)
  • garðinn = accusative singular definite (often for direct objects or motion-into with í)
  • garðinum = dative singular definite (used here)
How does Icelandic express the in the yard?

Icelandic usually attaches the definite article to the end of the noun as a suffix. For garður:

  • garður = a yard/garden
  • garðurinn = the yard/garden (nominative)
  • garðinum = the yard/garden (dative)

So -inum here is basically the + the required case ending.

Does garður mean garden or yard?

Often both, depending on context. garður can mean:

  • a garden (cultivated area), or
  • a yard/enclosed outdoor area around a house, or
  • more broadly an enclosure/fence area in some contexts.

In many everyday translations, yard is common for í garðinum when talking about where animals are.

Could the sentence also be written with a different word order?

Yes. Icelandic word order is flexible, especially for moving known information to the front. Common alternatives include:

  • Í garðinum eru fjórir hestar. (In the yard are four horses.)
    This often sounds natural if you’re emphasizing the location.
Is it okay to drop the verb eru like in some languages?

No. Icelandic generally requires a verb in a full sentence in the present tense. You normally can’t say something equivalent to Four horses in the yard as a complete sentence in standard Icelandic; you need eru.

How do you pronounce Fjórir hestar eru í garðinum?

A practical learner-friendly guide (approximate):

  • Fjórir ≈ FYOH-rir (the ó is like “oh”)
  • hestar ≈ HES-tar
  • eru ≈ EH-ru (often fairly unstressed)
  • í ≈ ee (like “machine”)
  • garðinum ≈ GAR-thi-num (the ð is like the th in “this”)

Actual pronunciation varies by speaker and speed, but these approximations help you get close.

If I wanted to say There are four horses in the yard, how would Icelandic typically express there are?

Icelandic usually doesn’t need a dummy there. You just say the sentence as-is:

  • Fjórir hestar eru í garðinum.
    Or you can lead with the location (often similar in feel to English there are statements):
  • Í garðinum eru fjórir hestar.