Saumurinn á skyrtunni er beinn, en það er lítil rifa neðst á henni.

to be

Breakdown of Saumurinn á skyrtunni er beinn, en það er lítil rifa neðst á henni.

• lítill: small
• á: on
• en: but

Questions & Answers about Saumurinn á skyrtunni er beinn, en það er lítil rifa neðst á henni.

What is the literal structure of this sentence?

A fairly literal breakdown is:

Saumurinn = the seam
á skyrtunni = on the shirt
er beinn = is straight
en = but
það er = there is
lítil rifa = a small tear / slit
neðst á henni = at the bottom of it

So the sentence is structured like:

The seam on the shirt is straight, but there is a small tear at the bottom of it.

Why is it saumurinn and not just saumur?

Because -inn is the definite article attached to the noun.

• saumur = a seam
• saumurinn = the seam

Icelandic usually adds the to the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like English does.

Here, saumurinn refers to a specific seam, so the definite form is used.

Why is it á skyrtunni?