Questions & Answers about Þetta er hundur og hann er þar.
Why does the Icelandic sentence use hann when the English translation says "it"?
In Icelandic, nouns have a grammatical gender: masculine, feminine, or neuter. The word for dog, hundur, is masculine. When you refer back to a masculine noun, you must use the masculine pronoun hann (he), even if it translates to "it" in English.
Both halves of the sentence use the word er. Why is it the same?
The verb vera (to be) is irregular, but it shares the same form for all third-person singular subjects. Since Þetta (this) and hann (he/it) are both third-person, they both use the form er (is).
Does Icelandic have a word for "a" or "an" like in "a dog"?
No, Icelandic does not have indefinite articles. The word hundur means both "dog" and "a dog" depending on the context. In Icelandic, you literally say "This is dog".
Why do we use Þetta at the beginning of the sentence?
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