Questions & Answers about Hún er Íslendingur.
Why do we use er here?
Er is the form of the verb vera (to be) used for 'he', 'she', and 'it'. Since the subject of our sentence is hún (she), we use er.
Where is the word for 'an' in this sentence?
Icelandic does not have an indefinite article (the words 'a' or 'an' in English). You just use the noun by itself, so Hún er Íslendingur completely translates to 'She is an Icelander'.
Hún means 'she', but isn't Íslendingur a masculine word?
Yes, grammatically Íslendingur is a masculine noun. However, grammatical gender does not always match a person's biological gender. The noun for an Icelander is always masculine, so you use it for anyone from Iceland, even when talking about a woman.
Why is Íslendingur capitalized?
Just like in English, nouns for nationalities and people from a specific place are always capitalized in Icelandic.
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