Breakdown of Kennitalan mín er á kortinu.
vera
to be
á
onto / on / in (static location) / on (a day of the week)
minn
my (m, f, n: minn, mín, mitt)
kortið
the card
kennitalan
the ID number (Icelandic identity number)
Questions & Answers about Kennitalan mín er á kortinu.
What exactly is a kennitala?
It translates to "ID number" or "social security number." In Iceland, your kennitala is an essential 10-digit number used for almost everything, from opening a bank account to picking up a parcel. The word itself is made up of kenni (identifying) and tala (number).
Why is the word for "my" (mín) placed after the noun, and why does the noun have "the" attached to it?
In Icelandic, it is most common to put possessive words (like mín for "my") after the noun. When you do this, the noun must take the definite article (the suffix meaning "the"). So instead of just saying kennitala mín, you say kennitalan mín (literally "the ID number my").
Why do we use mín instead of minn or mitt?
Possessive pronouns have to match the gender, number, and case of the noun they belong to. Because kennitala is a feminine noun and acts as the subject of this sentence (nominative case), we must use the feminine singular form mín.
Why is the word for "the card" kortinu instead of kortið?
The preposition á (on) can be followed by either the accusative or dative case. When it describes a fixed location (where something is right now, rather than where it is moving to), it triggers the dative case. The base word is the neuter noun kort. In the dative case, the definite ending for "the" on a neuter noun is -inu, making it kortinu.
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