Word
Vegna einna mistaka er rýmið of lítið.
Meaning
Because of one mistake, the space is too small.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Vegna einna mistaka er rýmið of lítið.
vera
to be
lítill
small / a little (small amount)
einn
one
vegna
because of
Questions & Answers about Vegna einna mistaka er rýmið of lítið.
Why is the word for "one" in the plural form einna here, if the English translation says "one mistake"?
The Icelandic word for "mistake" is mistök, which is a neuter noun that is always plural, even when you only mean one single mistake! Because the noun is plural, the number "one" must also be in its plural form to match. Since we need the genitive case here, we use the genitive plural form einna.
What causes einna mistaka to be in the genitive case?
The preposition vegna (because of) always forces the noun and its modifiers that directly follow it into the genitive case.
What is the dictionary (nominative) form of mistaka?
The dictionary form is mistök. When a neuter plural word with an ö in the root goes into the genitive case, that ö usually changes back to an a. That is why mistök becomes mistaka.
Why is the adjective lítið used instead of lítill?
The adjective must agree in gender and number with the noun it describes. Rými (space) is a neuter singular noun, so the adjective must also be in the neuter singular form, which is lítið.