Word
Hún kemur beint úr skólanum.
Meaning
She comes straight from school.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Hún kemur beint úr skólanum.
Why use úr instead of frá if the English translation is "from"?
In Icelandic, úr specifically means coming out of an enclosed space, building, or institution. Since she was physically inside the school, she is coming úr it. You would use frá if she were coming from a general direction, a person, or a country.
Why does Icelandic say skólanum ("the school") when English just says "school"?
Icelandic typically uses the definite article (the -num ending here) when talking about everyday institutions like school, work, or the bank. While English drops the word "the" in phrases like "from school", Icelandic keeps it.
What case is skólanum in?
It is in the dative case. The preposition úr always forces the noun that follows it to take the dative case. The base word is skóli (a masculine noun), which becomes skóla in the dative. Adding the definite article makes it skólanum.
How does the word beint work here?
Beint is an adverb meaning "straight" or "directly". It is actually the neuter singular form of the adjective beinn (straight). In Icelandic, you can frequently create an adverb just by taking the neuter form of an adjective.