Íslenskan er falleg, en tungumálið er erfitt.

to be

Breakdown of Íslenskan er falleg, en tungumálið er erfitt.

• falleg: beautiful
• en: but
• erfitt: difficult

Questions & Answers about Íslenskan er falleg, en tungumálið er erfitt.

Why does Íslenskan end in -an?

Because Icelandic often puts the definite article on the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like the.

• íslenska = Icelandic / the Icelandic language in some contexts
• íslenskan = the Icelandic language more explicitly

In this sentence, Íslenskan means Icelandic as a specific language, so the ending -an is the definite article attached to the noun.

This is very common in Icelandic:

• bók = book
• bókin = the book

So íslenskan is basically íslenska + the.

Why does tungumálið end in -ið?

For the same reason: it is the noun tungumál (language) with the definite article added.

• tungumál = language
• tungumálið = the language

The ending looks different from -an because Icelandic noun endings depend on gender, number, and case.

Here:

• Íslenskan is a feminine noun form
• tungumálið is a neuter noun form

So both words are definite, but they take different article endings.

Why are there two different words for language here: Íslenskan and tungumálið?