Teskeiðin datt af borðinu.

the table

Breakdown of Teskeiðin datt af borðinu.

• detta: to fall
• af: off
• teskeiðin: the teaspoon

Questions & Answers about Teskeiðin datt af borðinu.

What are the dictionary forms of the words in Teskeiðin datt af borðinu?

They are:

• teskeið — teaspoon (a feminine noun)
• detta — to fall
• af — off / from
• borð — table (a neuter noun)

So the sentence is built from very common Icelandic pieces: a noun, a past-tense verb, a preposition, and another noun.

Why does teskeiðin mean the teaspoon?

Because Icelandic usually puts the definite article onto the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like English the.

• teskeið = teaspoon
• teskeiðin = the teaspoon

Here, the ending -in is the definite article attached to a feminine singular noun in the nominative.

What case is teskeiðin, and why?

Teskeiðin is nominative singular because it is the subject of the sentence — it is the thing doing the falling.

A good way to see that is to ask: What fell off the table?
Answer: The teaspoon.

That makes teskeiðin the subject, so nominative is the expected case.