Breakdown of Bíllinn er hér en bókin er þar.
vera
to be
bíllinn
the car
hér
here
bókin
the book
þar
there
en
but
Questions & Answers about Bíllinn er hér en bókin er þar.
Why do both halves of the sentence use er?
Er is the form of the verb vera (to be) used for "he", "she", and "it" (hann, hún, það). Since both "the car" and "the book" are third-person subjects, they both use er just like "it" would.
Where is the word for "the" in this sentence?
In Icelandic, there is usually no separate word for "the". Instead, it gets attached to the end of the noun. So bíll (a car) becomes bíllinn (the car), and bók (a book) becomes bókin (the book).
Why does "the car" end in -inn but "the book" ends in -in?
Is en the word for "and"?
No, en means "but" in this sentence. It is easy to confuse with English "and", but if you wanted to say "and" in Icelandic, you would use the word og.
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