Kommóðan er þung, svo ég ber hana ekki einn.

The dresser is heavy, so I don’t carry it alone.

Breakdown of Kommóðan er þung, svo ég ber hana ekki einn.

• ég: I
• vera: to be
• ekki: not
• svo: so
• þungur: heavy
• hana: it
• einn: alone
• bera: to carry
• kommóðan: the dresser

Questions & Answers about Kommóðan er þung, svo ég ber hana ekki einn.

Why is it kommóðan and not just kommóða?

Kommóða is the base (dictionary) form: kommóða = a chest of drawers (feminine). In the sentence you have kommóðan, which is kommóða + -n, the definite form: the chest of drawers. So:

• kommóða = a chest of drawers
• kommóðan = the chest of drawers

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What case is kommóðan, and why?

Kommóðan is nominative singular definite (feminine). It’s nominative because it’s the subject of the clause: it’s the thing being described as heavy (er þung).

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Why is the adjective þung and not þungt or þungur?

Adjectives agree with the noun in gender, number, and case. Kommóða is feminine singular nominative, so the adjective is:

• masculine: þungur
• feminine: þung
• neuter: þungt

Here you need the feminine form: kommóðan er þung.

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What does er mean here, and what verb is it?

Er is the present tense of að vera (to be).
So kommóðan er þung literally means the chest of drawers is heavy.

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Why is there a comma before svo?

Because svo here introduces a result clause (roughly so / therefore), and Icelandic commonly uses a comma to separate the first clause from the result:

• Kommóðan er þung, svo … = The chest of drawers is heavy, so …

(You’ll often see this comma in Icelandic even where English might not always use one.)

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Does svo mean “so” as in “very” (like “so big”), or “so/therefore”?

Here svo means so/therefore (introducing a consequence).
Icelandic svo can also mean so as an intensifier (so big), but that’s a different structure. In this sentence it clearly marks a result: it’s heavy, so I don’t carry it alone.

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Why is the word order svo ég ber hana ekki… and not svo ég ekki ber hana…?

In Icelandic, the finite verb (here ber) normally comes early in the clause, and ekki typically comes after the finite verb:

• ég ber … ekki = I do not carry …

So svo ég ber hana ekki … is the standard placement. Putting ekki before the verb is generally not the normal neutral order.

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What is ber, and how do I know it means “carry”?

Ber is the present tense (1st/3rd person singular) of the verb að bera.
Að bera can mean to carry, to bear, to wear/bring in some contexts, but with a physical object like kommóða and the object pronoun hana, the natural meaning is carry.

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Why is the object pronoun hana?

Hana is the accusative form of hún (she/it for feminine nouns).
Since kommóða is feminine, you refer back to it with a feminine pronoun:

• nominative: hún
• accusative: hana
• dative: henni
• genitive: hennar

After bera (to carry), the direct object is normally accusative, so you get hana.

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Could I say ég ber ekki kommóðuna instead of using hana?

Yes. You can repeat the noun:

• … svo ég ber ekki kommóðuna einn. = … so I don’t carry the chest of drawers alone.

Using hana is just more natural when the noun is already mentioned, like English it.

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Why is it einn and not eina or eitt?

Einn here means alone (literally one), and it agrees with the person who is alone: ég (a male speaker) → einn. Common forms:

• male speaker: einn
• female speaker: ein
• neuter (e.g., about a child/thing in some contexts): eitt

So a female speaker would normally say:

• … svo ég ber hana ekki ein.

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Does einn describe the chest of drawers or the speaker?

It describes the speaker (ég), not the chest of drawers. The idea is I don’t carry it alone (by myself), i.e., without help.

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Can ekki einn also mean “not one” (as in “not a single one”)?

In other contexts, yes: ekki einn can mean not one / not a single.
But in this sentence, because it follows a verb of doing something (ber hana) and refers to the subject (ég), it’s understood as not alone / not by myself.