Póstmaðurinn kemur snemma í dag og setur sendinguna við hurðina.

to put

Breakdown of Póstmaðurinn kemur snemma í dag og setur sendinguna við hurðina.

• koma: to come
• og: and
• hurðin: the door

Questions & Answers about Póstmaðurinn kemur snemma í dag og setur sendinguna við hurðina.

Why does póstmaðurinn end with -inn?

The ending -inn is the definite article attached to the noun, so póstmaðurinn means the postman.

In Icelandic, the is often not a separate word like in English. Instead, it is added to the end of the noun:

• póstmaður = a postman / postman
• póstmaðurinn = the postman

This is very common in Icelandic.

What form is kemur?

Kemur is the present tense, 3rd person singular form of the verb koma (to come).

So:

• ég kem = I come
• þú kemur = you come
• hann/hún/það kemur = he/she/it comes

Here, the subject is póstmaðurinn (the postman), which is singular, so kemur is the correct form.

Why is it setur and not something like setja?

Setja is the infinitive form, meaning to put / to place.
Setur is the present tense form used with he/she/it:

• að setja = to put
• hann setur = he puts

Since the subject is the postman, Icelandic uses the present-tense finite verb setur.