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Fyrir aftan húsið eru tvær stórar sorptunnur, og önnur þeirra er full nú þegar.

Fyrir aftan húsið eru tvær stórar sorptunnur, og önnur þeirra er full nú þegar.
Behind the building there are two big garbage bins, and one of them is already full.
FromLesson 70inHardcore Icelandic

Questions & Answers about Fyrir aftan húsið eru tvær stórar sorptunnur, og önnur þeirra er full nú þegar.

Why does fyrir aftan mean behind? I thought fyrir often means something like for or in front of.

Fyrir aftan is best learned as a fixed location expression meaning behind or at the back of.

  • fyrir on its own has several meanings in Icelandic
  • aftan relates to the back/rear side
  • together, fyrir aftan means behind

So in this sentence, treat fyrir aftan húsið as one unit: behind the house.

Why is it húsið and not hús?

Because húsið means the house, while hús means a house/house.

Icelandic usually puts the definite article on the end of the noun:

  • hús = house
  • húsið = the house

So the sentence is talking about a specific house, not just any house.

Also, in this expression the noun phrase is treated as accusative, but with a neuter singular noun like hús, the nominative and accusative forms look the same. So húsið does not visibly change here.

Why does the sentence say eru tvær stórar sorptunnur instead of tvær stórar sorptunnur eru?

This is because of Icelandic V2 word order.

In main clauses, the finite verb usually comes in the second position. Since the sentence begins with the location phrase Fyrir aftan húsið, the verb eru comes next, and the subject follows it:

  • Fyrir aftan húsið
    • eru
      • tvær stórar sorptunnur

A more basic order would be:

  • Tvær stórar sorptunnur eru fyrir aftan húsið.

Both are grammatical, but the original sentence fronts the place expression for emphasis or flow.

Why is it tvær? Why not tveir or tvö?

Because Icelandic numbers from one to four change for gender.

The noun sorptunna is feminine, so two must also be in the feminine form:

  • masculine: tveir
  • feminine: tvær
  • neuter: tvö

Since sorptunnur is feminine plural, tvær is the correct form here.

Why is the adjective stórar?

Because adjectives in Icelandic agree with the noun they describe in:

  • gender
  • number
  • case

Here, sorptunnur is:

So the adjective must match, giving stórar.

That whole phrase is:

  • tvær stórar sorptunnur = two big garbage bins
Why is there no the on sorptunnur?

Because the bins are being introduced as indefinite: two big garbage bins, not the two big garbage bins.

In Icelandic, definiteness is usually shown with a suffix on the noun:

  • sorptunnur = garbage bins
  • sorptunnurnar = the garbage bins

With a numeral like tvær, an indefinite reading is very natural unless the speaker specifically wants to say the two bins.

What is the singular form of sorptunnur?

The singular is sorptunna.

So:

  • singular: sorptunna = a garbage bin
  • plural: sorptunnur = garbage bins

This is a feminine noun, and it follows a common weak feminine pattern.

What exactly does önnur þeirra mean?

It means the other one of them or more naturally the other one.

Since there are two bins, önnur þeirra picks out the second one in contrast to the first.

Compare:

  • ein þeirra = one of them
  • önnur þeirra = the other one of them

So here the meaning is basically: and the other one is already full.

Why is it önnur? That does not look like the form I would expect from annar.

That is because annar is an irregular word.

Its nominative singular forms are:

  • masculine: annar
  • feminine: önnur
  • neuter: annað

Since önnur refers back to sorptunna, which is feminine singular here, the feminine form önnur is required.

Why is þeirra used here, and what case is it?

Þeirra is the genitive plural form meaning of them.

Icelandic often uses the genitive after words that select one item out of a group. So:

This is a very common pattern in Icelandic.

Why does the second clause use singular er full instead of plural eru fullar?

Because the subject of the second clause is not the two bins together. It is just önnur þeirra = the other one of them, which is singular.

So the grammar must also be singular:

  • önnur þeirra er full

And the adjective full agrees with that singular feminine subject.

If you were talking about both bins, you would use plural forms, for example:

  • sorptunnurnar eru fullar = the bins are full
What does nú þegar mean? Why are there two words?

Nú þegar means already.

Literally, it is something like now already or by now, but in normal English the best translation is often just already.

It adds a sense that something has happened sooner than expected or is true at this point already:

  • er full nú þegar = is already full
Why is there a comma before og?

Because Icelandic often uses a comma before og when it joins two full clauses.

Here you have:

  • Fyrir aftan húsið eru tvær stórar sorptunnur
  • önnur þeirra er full nú þegar

Since both parts can stand as full clauses, the comma is natural and standard in Icelandic writing. English punctuation is a bit more style-dependent, but in Icelandic this kind of comma is very common.

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