Leikpeðið er rautt.

to be

Breakdown of Leikpeðið er rautt.

• rauður: red
• leikpeðið: the playing piece; pawn

Questions & Answers about Leikpeðið er rautt.

Why is rautt written that way instead of rauður?

Because Icelandic adjectives must agree with the noun they describe.

In this sentence, leikpeðið is neuter singular, so the adjective rauður changes to the neuter singular form rautt.

A useful comparison is:

• rauður = masculine
• rauð = feminine
• rautt = neuter

So rautt is the form that matches leikpeðið.

What does er mean?

Er means is.

It is the present-tense form of the verb vera, which means to be. So this sentence uses the very common pattern:

subject + er + adjective

just like English something is red.

How can I tell that leikpeðið is definite?

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

So leikpeðið contains the noun plus the definite ending -ið, which is why it means the something, not just a something.

This is very normal in Icelandic:

• bare noun = indefinite
• noun + article ending = definite

What is the dictionary form of leikpeðið?