Breakdown of Hún er komin með neflokkinn en eyrnalokkurinn var ekki til.
vera
to be
hún
she
en
but
ekki
not
koma
to come
með
with
eyrnalokkurinn
the earring
vera til
to exist / be available
neflokkurinn
the nose ring
Questions & Answers about Hún er komin með neflokkinn en eyrnalokkurinn var ekki til.
Why use er komin með here instead of just saying hún hefur fengið (she has gotten)?
The structure vera kominn með + accusative highlights the current state of having acquired something or having it on you right now. While hún hefur fengið focuses on the past action of receiving it, hún er komin með emphasizes that she is currently in possession of the nose ring. This is a very common way to express acquisition in Icelandic.
Why does the word komin end in -in instead of -inn?
In the vera kominn með construction, the word kominn is a past participle that must agree with the subject in gender and number. Since the subject is hún (feminine, singular), it takes the feminine singular nominative form komin.
Why is neflokkinn in the accusative case here?
The preposition með governs the accusative case when it signifies "carrying" or "holding" something, which provides the underlying logic of the vera kominn með expression. If með meant "using as a tool" it would take the dative, but here she simply possesses the nose ring.
How does var ekki til translate to "was not available"?
The phrase að vera til literally translates to "to exist." In everyday Icelandic, when you are talking about goods in a shop, saying something er ekki til is the standard way to express that it is "out of stock" or "unavailable." Therefore, the past tense var ekki til simply means it was out of stock.
Why does the word for earring (eyrnalokkur) have an extra "a" in the middle, but nose ring (neflokkur) doesn't?
Icelandic forms compound words in a few different ways. Eyrnalokkur uses the genitive plural form of eyra (ear), so it literally means "ring of ears." Meanwhile, neflokkur just glues the root word nef (nose) directly to lokkur without a connecting genitive ending. You generally just have to learn these specific combinations as you build your vocabulary.
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