Describing traits with the genitive case

The Genitive of Description

In English, when we describe someone's defining characteristics or skills, we often use the preposition "of," as in "a woman of great intelligence." In Icelandic, there is no preposition used for this. Instead, we rely entirely on the genitive case (eignarfall).

This structure—known as the genitive of description (eiginleikaeignarfall)—places an adjective and a trait noun directly after the person or thing, both declined in the genitive case.

Here it is in action with feminine trait nouns like greind (intelligence) and rökhugsun (logical thinking), which take feminine genitive endings:

Describing with Neuter Traits

The rule is exactly the same for neuter trait nouns like úthald (stamina) and sjónminni (visual memory). Notice how both the adjective and the noun take the standard neuter genitive singular ending -s:

The Genitive Remains Fixed

The descriptive trait phrase acts like a permanent, attached label. Because of this, it remains in the genitive case no matter what grammatical role the described person plays in the sentence.

For example, if the person you are describing becomes the object of a verb and changes to the accusative or dative case, the descriptive phrase firmly stays in the genitive:

You can also string multiple traits together to paint a vivid picture of a sharp tactical mind. Each trait and its adjective simply remains in the genitive case: