Breakdown of Í hádeginu borða ég brauð.
ég
I
borða
to eat
brauðið
the bread
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
hádegið
the noon, midday
Questions & Answers about Í hádeginu borða ég brauð.
Why is the word order borða ég instead of ég borða?
Icelandic follows the "verb-second" (V2) rule. Because this sentence starts with the time phrase Í hádeginu, the verb (borða) must come next to stay in the second slot. The subject (ég) is pushed to the other side of the verb.
Why does hádeginu end in -nu?
The -nu ending is the attached definite article ("the"). In Icelandic, time expressions like this often take the definite article even if we don't say "the" in English. Because hádegi is a neuter noun and follows the preposition í (which triggers the dative case here), it gets the dative neuter ending -nu.
Why use the preposition í for "at" midday?
Time prepositions in Icelandic don't always match English and usually just need to be memorized. While you use á for morning or evening (á morgnana, á kvöldin), midday specifically pairs with the preposition í (í hádeginu).
What case is brauð in?
It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the sentence (the thing being eaten). Fortunately, because brauð is a neuter noun, its accusative form looks exactly the same as its dictionary (nominative) form!
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