Word
Rottan er óþrifalegt meindýr.
Meaning
The rat is an unhygienic pest.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Rottan er óþrifalegt meindýr.
vera
to be
rottan
the rat
óþrifalegur
unhygienic
meindýrið
the pest
Questions & Answers about Rottan er óþrifalegt meindýr.
How does the prefix ó- work in the word óþrifalegt, and what is the base word?
The prefix ó- is highly productive and acts exactly like "un-" or "in-" in English to give a word the opposite meaning. The base adjective here is þrifalegur (clean or tidy), which comes from the verb þrífa (to clean). Adding ó- gives us óþrifalegur, meaning "unclean" or "unhygienic".
Why does óþrifalegt end in -t when Rottan is a feminine noun?
The adjective isn't directly agreeing with Rottan. Instead, it is modifying the noun it is attached to: meindýr (pest). Since meindýr is a neuter noun, the adjective takes the neuter singular ending -t.
How does the compound word meindýr break down?
It is composed of mein (meaning harm, damage, or disease) and dýr (animal). So, a "harm-animal" is the Icelandic way of saying "pest".
Why do we use the definite article in Rottan (The rat) instead of just saying Rotta?
In Icelandic, when making a general statement about an entire species or class of things, you typically use the definite article. While English sometimes does this ("The rat is a pest"), you will see this pattern much more consistently in Icelandic.