Introducing the Accusative Case
In Icelandic, when a noun receives the action of a verb (like the "book" in "I read a book"), it is called a direct object. Direct objects take a special grammatical form called the accusative case.
For many words, you don't actually have to change anything! When dealing with a bare, indefinite noun (meaning "a book" rather than "the book"), neuter nouns like bréf and strong feminine nouns like bók and mjólk look exactly the same in the accusative case as they do in the dictionary.
| I read a book. | Ég les bók. |
| We read a letter. | Við lesum bréf. |
| Does the child drink milk? | Drekkur barnið mjólk? |
Masculine Nouns in the Accusative
Unlike neuter and feminine nouns, most masculine nouns change their form when they become direct objects. The most common change is dropping their ending.
For example, masculine nouns that end in -ur drop the -ur (so fiskur becomes fisk, and ostur becomes ost). Nouns ending in -ll drop one -l (so bíll becomes bíl).
| I see a dog outside. | Ég sé hund úti. |
| We buy cheese and fish. | Við kaupum ost og fisk. |
| Do you see a car here? | Sérð þú bíl hér? |
Nouns Ending in a Vowel
Nouns that end in a vowel also change in the accusative case:
- Masculine nouns ending in -i (like sími) change their ending to -a (síma).
- Feminine nouns ending in -a change their ending to -u. If the noun has an a in the root, this -u ending also shifts it to an ö (so kaka becomes köku).
| I am buying a telephone now. | Ég kaupi síma núna. |
| I love cake. | Ég elska köku. |
