Breakdown of Laufblað þessa blóms er stærra en það jurtarinnar.
vera
to be
það
it / there (existential) / the one (n)
stór
big
blómið
the flower
þessi
this (m/f)
en
than
jurtin
the herb
laufblaðið
the leaf
Questions & Answers about Laufblað þessa blóms er stærra en það jurtarinnar.
Why do we use það instead of sá to mean "that" in the second half of the sentence?
In this sentence, það is acting as a substitute pronoun for laufblað (leaf) to avoid repeating the word. Because laufblað is a neuter noun in the nominative case, the demonstrative pronoun sá must take its neuter nominative form, which is það.
How does the phrase það jurtarinnar work without a preposition like af?
In English we say "that of the herb", using a preposition. Icelandic generally avoids this and simply uses the genitive case to show possession. það stands in for "the leaf", and the genitive noun jurtarinnar (the herb's) attaches directly to it.
Why is it þessa blóms rather than þessa blómsins?
When a demonstrative pronoun like þessi (this) is used immediately before a noun, the noun itself typically drops the definite article suffix. Therefore, "of this flower" is the genitive þessa blóms, without the definite -ins ending.
Why does the comparative adjective stærra (larger) end in -a?
Even in their comparative forms, adjectives must agree in gender with the noun they describe. Because laufblað is a neuter singular noun, the comparative form of stór (big) takes the neuter singular ending, becoming stærra. If the noun were masculine or feminine, it would be stærri.
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