Breakdown of Kötturinn er ekki úti, hann er bara inni.
vera
to be
hann
he
kötturinn
the cat
úti
outside
ekki
not
inni
inside
bara
just / only
Questions & Answers about Kötturinn er ekki úti, hann er bara inni.
Why does ekki come after er instead of before it?
In a standard Icelandic main clause, the verb is almost always the second piece of information. Because Kötturinn is the first piece, the verb er must come second. That pushes the negative word ekki to come right after the verb, unlike in English where we say 'is not'.
Why does the sentence use hann to refer to the cat instead of a neutral word for 'it'?
In Icelandic, all nouns have a grammatical gender: masculine, feminine, or neuter. Köttur is a masculine noun. When referring back to a masculine noun, you must use the masculine pronoun hann (he), even when English would just use 'it'.
If köttur means cat, why does this sentence say Kötturinn?
Icelandic does not use a separate word for 'the'. Instead, it attaches a definite article to the end of the noun. For masculine nouns like köttur, that ending is usually -inn, which makes kötturinn mean 'the cat'.
Can I use úti and inni if the cat is running outside or inside?
No! Icelandic uses different words for locations depending on whether you are moving or staying still. úti (outside) and inni (inside) are used when something is already resting in that location. If the cat were actively moving outside or inside, you would use the movement words út and inn.
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