Breakdown of Stærsti basarinn er litríkur og heillandi staður.
vera
to be
og
and
stór
big
staðurinn
the place
Questions & Answers about Stærsti basarinn er litríkur og heillandi staður.
How does the word heillandi work here as an adjective?
Heillandi is the present participle of the verb heilla (to charm or fascinate). In Icelandic, you form this by adding -andi to the verb stem. Just like in English (charming), it can be used as an active adjective to describe something that is doing the action.
Why doesn't heillandi have a masculine ending to match staður and litríkur?
Present participles ending in -andi are indeclinable when used as adjectives. That means they never change their endings, regardless of the gender, number, or case of the noun they describe! So while litríkur takes the masculine nominative -ur ending to match staður, heillandi stays exactly the same.
Why is it stærsti instead of stærstur?
Stærsti is the weak (definite) form of the superlative adjective. Because it is describing a specific, definite noun—basarinn (the bazaar)—the adjective must use the weak declension. If you were talking about an indefinite bazaar, you would use the strong form stærstur.
What are the root words inside litríkur?
It is a compound of litur (color) and ríkur (rich). Icelandic often creates descriptive adjectives this way, so a colorful place is literally color-rich.