Breakdown of Hið stórfenglega ríki er mjög gamalt.
vera
to be
gamall
old
mjög
very
ríkið
the state
hinn
the (formal definite article)
stórfenglegur
magnificent
Questions & Answers about Hið stórfenglega ríki er mjög gamalt.
Why do we use hið here instead of just saying stórfenglega ríkið?
Using the free-standing article hið before an adjective and a noun is a formal, often literary way to say the. You will see it in historical texts, news, or grand statements. In everyday spoken Icelandic, you would usually just say stórfenglega ríkið.
Since hið is the article, why doesn't ríki have the definite suffix attached to it?
When you use the formal free-standing article (hinn, hin, or hið), the noun that follows must remain bare (without the attached article). So it is hið stórfenglega ríki, never hið stórfenglega ríkið.
Both stórfenglega and gamalt describe the neuter noun ríki. Why do they have different endings?
They use different adjective patterns. Because stórfenglega comes directly after the definite article hið, it is forced into its weak form (ending in -a for a neuter noun). However, gamalt stands alone after the verb er with no article in front of it, so it takes the standard strong neuter ending (-t).
What gender is ríki, and how does it dictate the choice of the free-standing article?
ríki is a neuter noun. Because it is the subject of the sentence, we need the neuter singular nominative form of the free-standing article, which is hið. If the noun were masculine, we would use hinn, and if it were feminine, we would use hin.
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