Rófan er tilbúin.

The turnip is ready.

Breakdown of Rófan er tilbúin.

• vera: to be
• tilbúinn: ready
• rófan: the turnip

Questions & Answers about Rófan er tilbúin.

Why does rófa become rófan here?

The ending -n is the definite article attached to the noun, so rófan means the turnip.

In Icelandic, the is usually added to the end of the noun instead of appearing as a separate word.

• rófa = a turnip / turnip
• rófan = the turnip

What case is rófan in?

It is in the nominative singular.

That is the normal case for the subject of a sentence, and here rófan is the subject: it is the thing that is ready.

How do we know that rófa is feminine?

You usually learn the gender of an Icelandic noun as part of the word itself. Rófa is a feminine noun.

That matters because adjectives often have to agree with the noun in:

• gender
• number
• case

So because rófan is feminine singular nominative, the adjective also appears in the matching form.

Why is the adjective tilbúin and not tilbúinn or ?