Learn Icelandic: Bróðir minn var atvinnulaus í fyrra. - My brother was unemployed last year.

Bróðir minn var atvinnulaus í fyrra.

My brother was unemployed last year.

Breakdown of Bróðir minn var atvinnulaus í fyrra.

my (m, f, n: minn, mín, mitt)

í fyrra

last year

Questions & Answers about Bróðir minn var atvinnulaus í fyrra.

How is the word atvinnulaus built?

It is made by taking the noun atvinna (employment or work) and adding the suffix -laus (-less or without). So it literally means 'workless'. This suffix is highly productive in Icelandic, meaning you can easily attach it to many different nouns to mean 'without that noun'.

Does the ending of atvinnulaus change depending on who is unemployed?

Yes. Because -laus turns the word into an adjective, it must agree with the subject in gender and number. Here it is masculine singular nominative to match bróðir (brother). If the subject were a neuter noun, like barn (child), it would become atvinnulaust. For a feminine subject, the nominative form remains atvinnulaus.

Why is it Bróðir minn instead of Minn bróðir, and why is there no definite article on the noun?

In Icelandic, possessive pronouns like minn almost always come after the noun they describe. Usually, nouns take the definite article when a possessive follows them (like bíllinn minn for 'my car'). However, close family kinship terms like bróðir, systir, and móðir are common exceptions and are used without the definite article.

I see í fyrra translates to 'last year', but which of those words actually means 'year'?