Frumsýningin er í dag.

to be

Breakdown of Frumsýningin er í dag.

• í dag: today
• frumsýningin: the premiere

Questions & Answers about Frumsýningin er í dag.

What is frumsýningin made up of?

It is a compound plus the definite article:

• frum- = first, original
• sýning = showing, screening, performance
• -in = the

So frumsýningin is literally something like the first showing/performance, which is why it means the premiere.

Why is there no separate word for the?

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

So:

• frumsýning = premiere
• frumsýningin = the premiere

This is one of the first big differences English speakers notice in Icelandic.

What gender and case is frumsýningin here?

Here, frumsýningin is:

• feminine
• singular
• nominative
• definite

It is nominative because it is the subject of the sentence: the thing that is happening today.

The base noun frumsýning is feminine, so its definite forms follow feminine patterns.

What does er mean here?