Breakdown of Er glugginn lokaður? Nei, hann er ekki lokaður.
vera
to be
nei
no
hann
he
lokaður
closed
glugginn
the window
ekki
not
Questions & Answers about Er glugginn lokaður? Nei, hann er ekki lokaður.
Why is ekki placed right after er in the second sentence?
In simple Icelandic main clauses, the negative word ekki (not) usually goes immediately after the verb. Here, it follows the verb er (is), making the phrase hann er ekki (it is not).
Why does the answer use hann (he) to refer to a window?
All nouns in Icelandic have a grammatical gender. Because gluggi (window) is a masculine noun, you must use the masculine pronoun hann to say 'it'. If the object were a feminine noun, you would use hún (she).
How do we know glugginn means 'the window' and not just 'a window'?
The ending -nn acts as the definite article ('the'). In Icelandic, 'the' is attached directly to the end of the word rather than sitting in front of it as a separate word. Gluggi means 'a window', while glugginn means 'the window'.
Does the word lokaður (closed) change depending on what is closed?
Yes! Adjectives like lokaður must match the gender of the noun they describe. Because gluggi is a masculine noun, the adjective takes the masculine singular ending -ur. If the noun were feminine, the ending would change.
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