Questions & Answers about Greinamerkin í setningunni eru ekki rétt.
What does greinamerkin mean as a word, and what is its base form?
Greinamerkin is the definite plural form of greinamerki, a neuter noun meaning punctuation mark.
So the pattern is:
- greinamerki = punctuation mark / punctuation marks
- greinamerkin = the punctuation marks
In English, we often say the punctuation as a collective idea, but Icelandic here uses the plural idea the punctuation marks.
Why is there no separate word for the?
In Icelandic, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word.
Here are the two examples in the sentence:
- greinamerkin = greinamerki
- -in = the punctuation marks
- setningunni = setningu/setning
- definite ending = the sentence in the required case
So instead of a separate word like English the, Icelandic often builds that meaning into the noun itself.
Why is the verb eru used instead of er?