Questions & Answers about Dóttir mín er mjög ung.
Why does it say Dóttir mín instead of Mín dóttir?
In Icelandic, possessive words like 'my' or 'your' usually come after the noun. So, to say 'my daughter,' you use the word order dóttir mín (literally 'daughter my').
Why is the word for 'my' mín here instead of minn?
Possessive pronouns change to match the gender of the noun they belong to. Because dóttir (daughter) is a feminine noun, you must use the feminine form mín. If you were talking about a masculine noun like a son, you would use minn.
Shouldn't dóttir have 'the' attached to the end, like dóttirin mín?
Usually, nouns get the attached 'the' when used with a possessive pronoun (for example, bíllinn minn for 'my car'). However, close family members are an exception! Words like dóttir, sonur, móðir, and faðir usually drop the 'the' and just take the possessive directly.
Why is the word for young ung instead of ungur?
Adjectives in Icelandic also have to match the gender of the person or thing they describe. Since dóttir is feminine, the adjective drops the masculine -ur ending to become the feminine form ung.