Breakdown of Skógurinn er draugalegur í myrkrinu.
vera
to be
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
skógurinn
the forest
myrkrið
the darkness
draugalegur
spooky
Questions & Answers about Skógurinn er draugalegur í myrkrinu.
How does the suffix -legur change the meaning of the base word to form draugalegur?
The suffix -legur is very productive in Icelandic, similar to the English suffixes '-y', '-ly', or '-like'. It attaches to the noun draugur (ghost) to form an adjective meaning 'ghost-like' or 'spooky'. The connecting vowel -a- comes from the genitive plural of draugur, which is a common way to link nouns to this specific suffix.
Why is the adjective in the form draugalegur instead of draugalegt?
The adjective must agree with the noun it describes, which is skógurinn (the forest). Because skógur is a masculine noun in the nominative case, the adjective takes the masculine nominative singular ending -ur. If it were describing a neuter noun like hús (house), it would be draugalegt.
What happens to the base word myrkur to make it myrkrinu?
The base noun is myrkur (darkness), a neuter noun. The dative form drops the second 'u' (a common vowel deletion in Icelandic called syncopation) to become myrkri. We then add the dative neuter definite article -nu, giving us myrkrinu (the dark).
Could the preposition í trigger the accusative case here instead of the dative?
The preposition í only takes the accusative when describing active motion into a place. Since this sentence describes a static state occurring within the dark, í takes the dative case to show stationary location.
Learn Skógurinn er draugalegur í myrkrinu and more in Icelandic
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free