Learn Icelandic: Hvorki kápan né kjóllinn er krúttó. - Neither the coat nor the dress is cute.

Hvorki kápan né kjóllinn er krúttó.

Neither the coat nor the dress is cute.

Breakdown of Hvorki kápan né kjóllinn er krúttó.

Questions & Answers about Hvorki kápan né kjóllinn er krúttó.

Since kápan is feminine and kjóllinn is masculine, why doesn't the adjective krúttó change to agree with them?

That's the beauty of the -ó suffix! Adjectives formed with this colloquial ending (like krúttó, meaning cute) are completely indeclinable. They never change their endings to match gender, number, or case.

Where exactly does the word krúttó come from?

It comes from the noun krútt (which means a cutie or an adorable thing). By adding the -ó suffix, it transforms into an informal adjective. This is a very productive, slangy way to create adjectives in spoken Icelandic.

We have two subjects here (the coat and the dress). Why is the verb er in the singular instead of the plural eru?

When connecting two singular subjects with hvorki ... né ... (neither ... nor ...), the verb stays in the singular. You would only use the plural eru if one or both of the connected nouns were plural.

If I wanted to start this sentence with Núna (Now), where would the verb go?

Icelandic strictly follows the V2 (verb-second) rule. If you start with Núna, the verb er must come immediately after it, pushing the entire subject block backward: Núna er hvorki kápan né kjóllinn krúttó.