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Píramídinn er gömul bygging.

Píramídinn er gömul bygging.
The pyramid is an old building.
From Lesson 305:Geometric shapes·Icelandic

Breakdown of Píramídinn er gömul bygging.

vera
to be
gamall
old
byggingin
the building
píramídinn
the pyramid

Questions & Answers about Píramídinn er gömul bygging.

Why is the adjective gömul feminine when the subject, Píramídinn, is masculine?
In Icelandic, an adjective placed directly before a noun agrees with that specific noun. Because bygging (building) is a feminine word, the adjective must be in the feminine form gömul, even though the subject of the sentence is masculine.
How did the adjective gamall (old) become gömul?
This happens because of a vowel shift, often called a u-mutation. To make the masculine word gamall feminine, the root vowel a changes to ö and takes the ending -ul, resulting in gömul.
Why does Píramídinn have a definite article but bygging doesn't?
Just like in English, the sentence translates to 'The pyramid is an old building.' The first noun is specific and takes the attached definite article -inn, while the second noun is general and remains indefinite.
Does the word bygging come from a verb?
Yes, it comes from the verb að byggja (to build). In Icelandic, adding the suffix -ing to a verb stem is a common way to create a feminine noun, similar to adding '-ing' or '-ion' in English.

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