Neyðarlínan er opin.

to be

Breakdown of Neyðarlínan er opin.

• opinn: open
• neyðarlínan: the emergency line

Questions & Answers about Neyðarlínan er opin.

What does each part of Neyðarlínan er opin do?

• Neyðarlínan = the emergency line
• er = is
• opin = open

Grammatically:

• Neyðarlínan is the subject.
• er is the present-tense form of vera (to be).
• opin is an adjective describing the subject.

So the structure is basically subject + is + adjective, just like in English.

Why does Neyðarlínan end in -an?

Because Icelandic usually puts the at the end of the noun instead of using a separate word.

The base noun is neyðarlína = emergency line.
When it becomes definite, it becomes neyðarlínan = the emergency line.

This is very common in Icelandic:

• kona = woman
• konan = the woman

So -an here is part of the definite form.

Why is it neyðarlína and not just neyðlína?

Because many Icelandic compounds use a genitive-style linking form in the first part.

• neyð = emergency / distress
• neyðar- = a compound form meaning something like of emergency

So neyðarlína is literally something like emergency-line or line of emergency.

This pattern is very common in Icelandic compound words.