Barnið er með lítið sár á hendinni, svo ég set plástur á það.

I

Breakdown of Barnið er með lítið sár á hendinni, svo ég set plástur á það.

• lítill: small
• það: it
• barnið: the child

Questions & Answers about Barnið er með lítið sár á hendinni, svo ég set plástur á það.

Why is it barnið and not just barn?

Barn means child. The ending -ið is the attached definite article, so barnið means the child.

In Icelandic, the definite article is usually added to the end of the noun rather than written as a separate word. So:

• barn = a child / child
• barnið = the child

Also, barn is a neuter noun.

Why does the sentence use er með instead of a verb meaning has?

In everyday Icelandic, vera með is a very common way to express that someone has something, especially in conversational language.

So:

• Barnið er með lítið sár
  literally = The child is with a small wound
• natural English = The child has a small wound

Icelandic also has the verb hafa for to have, but vera með is extremely common in speech.

Why is it lítið sár?

Because the adjective has to agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

Here:

• sár = wound, and it is neuter singular
• the adjective lítill = small
• in the form that matches a neuter singular noun here, it becomes lítið

So:

• lítið sár = a small wound

This is a basic agreement pattern in Icelandic adjectives.