Breakdown of Dómarinn flautaði og keppnin hófst strax.
og
and
strax
immediately
dómarinn
the referee
flauta
to blow the whistle
Questions & Answers about Dómarinn flautaði og keppnin hófst strax.
Why is it dómarinn and not just dómari?
Because -inn is the suffixed definite article in Icelandic, roughly equivalent to the in English.
- dómari = a judge / a referee
- dómarinn = the judge / the referee
In this sentence, the speaker is talking about a specific referee, so the definite form is used.
A useful thing to notice is that Icelandic usually attaches the to the end of the noun instead of putting it in front.
Why is it keppnin and not keppni?
For the same reason: keppnin is the definite form.
- keppni = a competition
- keppnin = the competition
So both nouns in the sentence are definite:
- Dómarinn = the referee
- keppnin = the competition
The exact shape of the article changes depending on gender, case, and the form of the noun, so you should not expect every noun to add the article in exactly the same way.
What form is flautaði?