Learn Icelandic: Rokið er hættulegt á fjöllum. - The gale is dangerous in the mountains.

Rokið er hættulegt á fjöllum.

The gale is dangerous in the mountains.

Breakdown of Rokið er hættulegt á fjöllum.

vera

to be

onto / on / in (static location) / on (a day of the week)

Questions & Answers about Rokið er hættulegt á fjöllum.

Why does hættulegt end in -t here?

The adjective hættulegt (dangerous) must match the gender of the noun it describes, rokið (the gale). Because rok is a neuter noun, the adjective takes the neuter singular ending -t. If you used the masculine word vindur (wind), it would be Vindurinn er hættulegur.

Why is the preposition á used when the English translation says in?

In Icelandic, certain geographic and natural features use á (on) where English uses in. When talking about being in the mountains, Icelanders literally say on mountains (á fjöllum).

Why is fjöllum in the dative case?

The preposition á controls either the accusative or the dative case. It takes the dative case when it describes a fixed location or a state of being, like the weather conditions currently up in the mountains. It only takes the accusative when describing movement towards a place.

What is the base form of the word fjöllum?

The dictionary form is fjall (mountain). In the plural, the vowel a shifts to ö (fjöll), and the dative plural adds the ending -um, giving us fjöllum. Icelanders often use this plural form to refer to the highlands generally.