Word
Báturinn liggur við bryggjuna í höfninni.
Meaning
The boat is lying by the pier in the harbor.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Questions & Answers about Báturinn liggur við bryggjuna í höfninni.
Why is there no separate word for the in this sentence?
In Icelandic, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word.
So here you get:
- bátur = boat → báturinn = the boat
- bryggja = pier/dock → bryggjuna = the pier in the accusative
- höfn = harbor → höfninni = the harbor in the dative
That is very normal Icelandic. English uses a separate word, but Icelandic often uses a noun ending.
What exactly is báturinn?
Báturinn is the nominative singular definite form of bátur.
Breakdown:
- bátur = a boat
- báturinn = the boat
It is in the nominative here because it is the subject of the sentence: the boat is the thing doing the lying / being situated.
What does liggur mean here? Is it literally lies?