Questions & Answers about Barnið situr á jörðinni.
Why does barnið mean the child, not just child?
Because barnið is the noun barn (child) with the definite article attached to the end.
- barn = child
- barnið = the child
This is very common in Icelandic: instead of a separate word like English the, Icelandic often adds the article onto the noun itself.
Also, barn is a neuter noun, and -ið is the definite ending here.
Why is barn neuter? A child is a person, so why not masculine or feminine?
In Icelandic, grammatical gender and real-life sex/gender are not always the same thing.
The word barn is simply a neuter noun by grammar, no matter whether the child is a boy or a girl. So you say:
- barn = child
- barnið = the child
This is something learners just have to memorize with each noun: masculine, feminine, or neuter.
What form is situr, and why is it used here?