Uppsagnarfresturinn er langur.

The notice period is long.

Breakdown of Uppsagnarfresturinn er langur.

• vera: to be
• langur: long
• uppsagnarfresturinn: the notice period

Questions & Answers about Uppsagnarfresturinn er langur.

Why is uppsagnarfresturinn one long word?

Because Icelandic makes very frequent use of compound nouns. What English often expresses as two words, Icelandic often packs into one.

Here, uppsagnarfresturinn is built from:

• uppsögn = resignation, dismissal, termination
• frestur = deadline, period of time, grace period

Together, uppsagnarfrestur means notice period. Then the definite article is added at the end, giving uppsagnarfresturinn = the notice period.

What is the -ar- part in uppsagnarfrestur?

That -ar- comes from the genitive form of uppsögn.

A very common pattern in Icelandic compounds is:

• first noun in a linking/genitive form
• second noun as the main noun

So:

• uppsögn → uppsagnar-
• frestur = period

This gives uppsagnarfrestur, literally something like period of notice/termination.

Why does the sentence use uppsagnarfresturinn instead of uppsagnarfrestur?

Because uppsagnarfresturinn is the definite form: the notice period.

In Icelandic, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word.

Compare:

• uppsagnarfrestur = a notice period
• uppsagnarfresturinn = the notice period

So the -inn ending is doing the job that English the does.