Questions & Answers about Eftirrétturinn er góður.
Because it is made up of two parts:
- eftirréttur = dessert
- -inn = the
So eftirrétturinn literally means the dessert.
In Icelandic, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun instead of appearing as a separate word before it, unlike English the.
Icelandic usually expresses the with a suffix attached to the noun.
So:
- eftirréttur = dessert
- eftirrétturinn = the dessert
This is one of the first big differences English speakers notice. Icelandic can use a separate article in some situations, but the normal everyday way is the suffixed article.
The dictionary form is eftirréttur.
That is the indefinite singular form, meaning dessert. When you add the definite article -inn, you get eftirrétturinn, meaning the dessert.
So if you look this word up in a dictionary, you should usually search for eftirréttur, not eftirrétturinn.