Breakdown of Hann trúir á guðinn.
hann
he
á
onto / on / in (static location) / on (a day of the week)
trúa
to believe
guðinn
the god
Questions & Answers about Hann trúir á guðinn.
Why do we use á guðinn instead of just the dative case?
The verb trúa by itself takes the dative case when it means "to believe someone" (for example, hann trúir mér means "he believes me"). But to say you believe in something or someone, you use the phrase trúa á. The preposition á in this specific phrase always forces the following noun into the accusative case.
How does the word guðinn break down grammatically?
The base word is the masculine noun guð (god). Because the phrase trúa á requires the accusative case, we use the accusative form of guð, which is also just guð. To say "the god," we attach the masculine accusative definite suffix -inn, giving us guðinn.
Why isn't guðinn capitalized?
In Icelandic, the word guð is a regular common noun and is written in lowercase when talking about "a god" or "the god" generally. It is only capitalized as Guð when used as a proper name for a specific deity without an article, similar to how it works in English.
How does the verb trúir conjugate in the present tense?
The dictionary form (infinitive) is trúa. It belongs to a very common group of verbs that feature an i in the present tense singular. The pattern goes: ég trúi (I believe), þú trúir (you believe), and hann/hún/það trúir (he/she/it believes).
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