Rófan er tilbúin.

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

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.

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.

The dictionary form is tilbúinn. Like many Icelandic adjectives, it changes form to match the noun it describes.

Here the subject is rófan, which is feminine singular nominative, so the adjective becomes tilbúin.

Compare:

• tilbúinn = masculine singular
• tilbúin = feminine singular
• tilbúið = neuter singular

So:

• Strákurinn er tilbúinn = The boy is ready
• Rófan er tilbúin = The turnip is ready
• Barnið er tilbúið = The child is ready

Because this adjective is a predicate adjective: it comes after er and describes the subject.

In Icelandic, predicate adjectives normally use the strong form, even when the noun is definite.

So you say:

• Rófan er tilbúin

not:

• Rófan er tilbúna

The form tilbúna would be used as an attributive adjective, meaning it comes directly before a noun:

• tilbúna rófan = the ready turnip

So this is an important contrast:

• rófan er tilbúin = adjective after to be
• tilbúna rófan = adjective directly before the noun

Er is the present tense singular form of the verb vera, which means to be.

So here it means is.

A useful comparison:

• ég er = I am
• þú ert = you are
• hann/hún/það er = he/she/it is
• þeir/þær/þau eru = they are

Usually it means ready, but it can also have the sense of prepared or finished/prepared for use, depending on context.

It can be used for both people and things:

• Ég er tilbúin = I am ready
• Maturinn er tilbúinn = The food is ready

So in this sentence it means that the turnip is ready in whatever context has already been given.

Yes, but it changes the meaning.

• Rófan er tilbúin = The turnip is ready
• Rófa er tilbúin = A turnip is ready or possibly turnip is ready in a more general sense

Icelandic does not have a separate word for a/an, so the bare noun rófa can be indefinite.

You would usually put the verb first:

• Er rófan tilbúin? = Is the turnip ready?

That verb-first pattern is very common in Icelandic yes/no questions.

A rough English-friendly approximation is:

ROH-van er TIL-boo-in

A few helpful notes:

• ó sounds like a diphthong, roughly like o in go, but not exactly
• f between vowels is often pronounced like v, so rófan sounds closer to ROH-van
• Icelandic normally stresses the first syllable of each word

So the rhythm is roughly:

RÓ-fan er TÍL-bú-in