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Questions & Answers about Konan er gömul.
Why is the word for old "gömul" here instead of "gamall"?
Konan (the woman) is a feminine noun. In Icelandic, adjectives change their endings to match the gender of the noun they describe. The dictionary form for "old" is the masculine gamall, but we must use the feminine form gömul to match konan.
Where is the word for "the" in this sentence?
Icelandic usually attaches the word "the" to the end of the noun instead of using a separate word. The base word is kona (a woman). By adding -n to the end, it becomes konan (the woman).
Since "konan" means "the woman" (definite), why don't we use the weak adjective form?
When an adjective comes directly after a verb like er (is) to describe the subject, it always uses the strong declension. Even though konan has a definite article, the adjective isn't attached directly to the noun like in the phrase "the old woman". Because it acts as a description after the verb ("The woman is old"), we use the strong feminine form gömul.
Why does the first letter of the adjective change from "a" in gamall to "ö" in gömul?