Kanillinn er mildur, en engiferið er sterkara.

to be

Breakdown of Kanillinn er mildur, en engiferið er sterkara.

• en: but
• sterkari: stronger
• mildur: mild

Questions & Answers about Kanillinn er mildur, en engiferið er sterkara.

Why do kanillinn and engiferið have endings attached to them?

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

• kanillinn = kanill
  • definite article = the cinnamon
• engiferið = engifer
  • definite article = the ginger

So one very common pattern in Icelandic is:

• kanill = cinnamon
• kanillinn = the cinnamon

Why is it kanillinn but engiferið?

The article ending changes depending on the noun’s gender.

Here:

• kanill is masculine, so the definite nominative singular form is kanillinn
• engifer is neuter, so the definite nominative singular form is engiferið

So the difference is not random. It reflects the gender of each noun.

What does er mean?