Breakdown of Það var ógeðsleg lykt í herberginu.
vera
to be
það
it / there (existential) / the one (n)
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
herbergið
the room
ógeðslegur
disgusting
lyktin
the smell
Questions & Answers about Það var ógeðsleg lykt í herberginu.
Why does the sentence start with Það if the translation says "there was" instead of "it was"?
In Icelandic, the pronoun það (it) is often used as a dummy subject to mean "there" in phrases like það er (there is) and það var (there was). It acts as a grammatical placeholder to ensure the verb stays in the second position in the sentence.
Why is the adjective ógeðsleg used instead of the default dictionary form ógeðslegt?
Adjectives must agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they describe. The word for smell, lykt, is a feminine noun. Because it is the subject here, the adjective takes the feminine nominative singular form (ógeðsleg), dropping the neuter -t ending.
Why is the word for room, herberginu, in the dative case here?
The preposition í (in/into) governs the dative case when it describes a static, unchanging location. Because the smell is simply existing stationary inside the room, it takes the dative. If the sentence were describing active movement into the room, í would trigger the accusative case instead.
What is the base word for herberginu and how is this definite form constructed?
The base noun is herbergi (room), which is a neuter noun. To say "the room" in the dative case, you take the base word and add the dative neuter definite article suffix -nu, resulting in herberginu.
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