Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Icelandic grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Dansarinn dansar vel.
How is the noun dansari formed from the verb in this sentence?
The noun dansari (a dancer) is created by taking the stem of the verb dansa (to dance) and adding the suffix -ari. This suffix creates masculine nouns representing the person performing an action, very similar to adding "-er" to a verb in English.
Why does the definite noun dansarinn end in -nn instead of the usual masculine article -inn?
Masculine nouns created with the -ari suffix always end in a vowel. When you add the definite article to a vowel-ending masculine noun in the nominative case, the i in -inn is dropped. Therefore, dansari plus the article becomes dansarinn.
The words dansarinn and dansar look very similar. Is dansar also built with the -ari suffix?
No, dansar in this sentence is simply the verb dansa (to dance) conjugated for the third person singular (he/she/it dances). It happens to overlap visually with the noun's stem, but it is a standard verb conjugation.
Why do we use vel instead of an adjective like góður (good)?