Breakdown of Það stendur stór refur í þjóðgarðinum.
það
it / there (existential) / the one (n)
stór
big
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
standa
to stand
refurinn
the fox
þjóðgarðurinn
the national park
Questions & Answers about Það stendur stór refur í þjóðgarðinum.
Why does the sentence start with Það when the translation says 'A large fox...'?
This is the existential það, which works similarly to 'There' in the English phrase 'There is a fox standing...'. In Icelandic, when a sentence has an indefinite subject (a fox, not the fox), you often place Það in the first position as a dummy placeholder and move the actual subject (stór refur) right after the verb.
Could I use this exact same Það structure to say 'The large fox is standing...'?
No, you can only use the existential það when the delayed subject is indefinite. If you wanted to talk about a specific, definite fox, you would drop the Það entirely and put the subject first: Stóri refurinn stendur í þjóðgarðinum.
Is the verb stendur matching the dummy pronoun Það or the fox?
Why is stór refur in the nominative case if it comes after the verb? Don't objects usually go there?
Even though it was bumped to the middle of the sentence by Það, stór refur is still the subject of the sentence doing the standing. The placeholder Það doesn't change the grammatical role of the fox, so it stays in the nominative case rather than becoming an object in the accusative case.
Why is the word for 'national park' (þjóðgarður) written as þjóðgarðinum here?
The preposition í requires the dative case when describing a stationary position (where something is currently located). Because of this, the definite noun þjóðgarðurinn (the national park) changes to its dative form, þjóðgarðinum.
Learn Það stendur stór refur í þjóðgarðinum and more in Icelandic
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free