Questions & Answers about Barnið er hrætt.
Why is the word for afraid spelled hrætt here instead of its dictionary form hræddur?
Adjectives in Icelandic change their endings to match the gender of the noun they describe. Because barn (child) is a neuter noun, the adjective takes its neuter singular form, which is hrætt.
How does hræddur change to hrætt? Where do the two T's come from?
When forming the neuter version of adjectives ending in -ddur, the dd commonly changes to tt. It is a natural spelling rule that makes the word easier to pronounce, avoiding an awkward string of consonants like 'hræddt'.
Why does barn have -ið at the end?
Icelandic attaches the word for 'the' (the definite article) directly to the end of the noun. For a neuter word like barn, the suffix is -ið, making barnið mean 'the child'.
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