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Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Krónan er sterkari en í fyrra. - The krona is stronger than last year.

Hardcore Icelandic
/Lesson 67
/Krónan er sterkari en í fyrra.

Krónan er sterkari en í fyrra.

Krónan er sterkari en í fyrra.

The krona is stronger than last year.

Breakdown of Krónan er sterkari en í fyrra.

Questions & Answers about Krónan er sterkari en í fyrra.

Why is it Krónan and not just króna?

Krónan is króna with the definite article attached, so it means the króna.

In Icelandic, the definite article is usually added to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word like the in English.

króna = a króna / króna
krónan = the króna

So the sentence is talking about a specific currency: the króna.

What exactly does króna mean here?

Here króna refers to the currency, not a crown in the physical sense.

Icelandic króna can historically mean crown, but in modern everyday use it commonly means the Icelandic unit of money, just like krona/krone in other Nordic countries.

So in this sentence, Krónan means the Icelandic króna.

Why is the verb er used?

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Er is the present tense of vera, which means to be.

So:

ég er = I am
þú ert = you are
hann/hún/það er = he/she/it is

Since Krónan is grammatically singular, Icelandic uses er:

Krónan er ... = The króna is ...

What form is sterkari?

Sterkari is the comparative form of sterkur, which means strong.

So:

sterkur = strong
sterkari = stronger
sterkastur = strongest

In this sentence:

Krónan er sterkari ... = The króna is stronger ...

This is similar to English adding -er to form a comparison.

Why is it sterkari and not sterkur?

Because the sentence is making a comparison.

If you say:

Krónan er sterk. = The króna is strong.

that is just a basic description.

But:

Krónan er sterkari ... = The króna is stronger ...

compares its current strength with another time or thing. Since the sentence later says en í fyrra, Icelandic needs the comparative form sterkari.

What does en mean here?

Here en means than.

It is used in comparisons:

stærri en = bigger than
betri en = better than
sterkari en = stronger than

So:

Krónan er sterkari en í fyrra = The króna is stronger than last year

Be careful not to confuse this with similar-looking words in other languages. In Icelandic, en is a very common comparison word meaning than.

What does í fyrra mean literally?

Í fyrra is an idiomatic expression meaning last year.

Literally, fyrra is related to former / previous / earlier, and í often means in. But you should learn í fyrra as a fixed time expression meaning:

í fyrra = last year

Other useful time expressions are:

í dag = today
í gær = yesterday
á morgun = tomorrow

So although the literal parts may not map neatly onto English, the phrase as a whole simply means last year.

Why is there no noun after í fyrra? Why not something like en á síðasta ári?

Because í fyrra is already a complete time expression in Icelandic.

Icelandic often uses short, established adverbial phrases for time. You certainly can say something like á síðasta ári in some contexts, but í fyrra is the normal, natural way to say last year in everyday language.

So:

en í fyrra = than last year

is idiomatic and perfectly complete as it stands.

How does the comparison work if í fyrra is a time expression, not a thing?

This is normal in both Icelandic and English.

English says:

The currency is stronger than last year

Even though last year is a time, we understand the meaning as:

stronger than it was last year

Icelandic works the same way:

Krónan er sterkari en í fyrra
literally understood as The króna is stronger than it was last year

So the verb phrase after en is left out because it is understood from context.

Why does the adjective not seem to change to match krónan?

It actually is matching in the correct way for this construction.

Icelandic adjectives often agree with nouns in gender, number, and case, but comparative forms like sterkari are often simpler in appearance than basic adjective forms.

For example, the basic form is:

sterkur = strong

But the comparative form commonly used in sentences like this is:

sterkari = stronger

So even though krónan is feminine singular, the comparative form you see here is the normal form for this kind of predicate use.

Is the word order important here?

Yes, but this sentence has very standard word order.

Krónan = subject
er = verb
sterkari = complement
en í fyrra = comparison phrase

So the structure is basically:

Subject + verb + comparative adjective + than-phrase

That makes it a very straightforward Icelandic sentence.

How would I pronounce Krónan er sterkari en í fyrra?

A rough English-friendly guide would be:

KROH-nan er STER-ka-ri en ee FIR-ra

A few helpful notes:

ó is a long vowel, roughly like o in more, but not exactly the same.
r is usually trilled or tapped.
í sounds like ee.
rr in fyrra is pronounced distinctly.

This is only an approximation, but it can help you get started.

Could this sentence also mean The crown is stronger than last year?

In theory, króna can be connected historically to crown, but in normal modern usage, especially in a sentence like this, native speakers will understand it as the currency.

The context strongly points to economics or exchange rates, so Krónan er sterkari en í fyrra is understood as talking about the Icelandic króna, not a literal crown.

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