Vettvangurinn er á vinnustaðnum.

The dictionary forms are vettvangur and vinnustaður.

In this sentence, both words have endings added because of:

• definiteness: saying the
• case: showing the word’s role in the sentence

So you learn the nouns as vettvangur and vinnustaður, but in real sentences they often appear in changed forms.

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

So:

• vettvangurinn = the vettvangur
• vinnustaðnum = the workplace in a dative form

This is very common in Icelandic. English says the workplace, but Icelandic often says something more like workplace-the.

Because vettvangurinn is:

• singular
• definite
• masculine
• nominative case

The noun vettvangur is the subject of the sentence, so it appears in the nominative. For many masculine nouns ending in -ur, the definite nominative singular form ends in -urinn.

So:

• vettvangur = a/an site, platform, field, venue, etc.
• vettvangurinn = the site / the platform / the venue

Because vinnustaðnum comes after the preposition á, and here á is expressing a location.

With location, á usually takes the dative case. That means vinnustaður has to change into its dative singular definite form:

• vinnustaður = workplace
• vinnustaðurinn = the workplace, as a subject form
• vinnustaðnum = at the workplace

So vinnustaðurinn would be wrong here, because that is nominative, not dative.

Here á means something like at or sometimes on, depending on context.

A very important Icelandic pattern is:

• á + dative for location
• á + accusative for motion toward

So:

• á vinnustaðnum = at the workplace / on the workplace site depending on context, but usually translated naturally as at the workplace
• á vinnustaðinn = to the workplace if you are going there

That case difference is one of the key grammar points in Icelandic prepositions.

No. Even though á often corresponds to English on, it can also be translated as in or at, depending on what sounds natural in English.

In this sentence, at the workplace is the most natural translation.

So it is better to think of Icelandic prepositions as having a range of uses, not as matching one English preposition perfectly every time.

Vettvangur is a flexible word. Depending on context, it can mean things like:

• site
• venue
• scene
• field
• platform
• arena

The most natural English translation depends heavily on context. So even if one translation is given for this sentence, you should know that vettvangur is a broader word than just one fixed English equivalent.

Yes. Vinnustaður is a compound noun meaning roughly work-place.

It is made from:

• vinna = work
• staður = place

So vinnustaður literally means workplace.

Compound nouns are extremely common in Icelandic, and recognizing the parts can often help you guess the meaning of new words.

A rough English-friendly approximation is:

VETT-vang-ur-rinn er ow VINNU-stath-num

A few helpful notes:

• Stress is on the first syllable of each word.
• á is pronounced like ow in cow.
• ð in staðnum is like the th in this.
• The pronunciation of tt in Icelandic is not exactly like English tt; it has a special Icelandic sound, so the approximation above is only a guide.

Yes. Icelandic word order is flexible, but the verb still usually stays in the second position in main clauses.

The basic order here is:

• Vettvangurinn er á vinnustaðnum.

You could also say:

• Á vinnustaðnum er vettvangurinn.

That version puts more emphasis on á vinnustaðnum.

So the sentence can be rearranged for emphasis, but Icelandic still follows important word-order rules, especially the verb-second pattern.