Breakdown of Fjölskyldan mín er stór.
vera
to be
stór
big
minn
my (m, f, n: minn, mín, mitt)
fjölskyldan
the family
Questions & Answers about Fjölskyldan mín er stór.
Why does the sentence say Fjölskyldan mín ("the family my") instead of just mín fjölskylda?
In Icelandic, it is much more common to put the possessive word after the noun. When you do this, the noun must have the definite article (the "the" ending) attached to it. That is why we literally say "the-family my".
Why do we use mín instead of minn here?
Possessive words like "my" have to match the gender of the noun they belong to. The base word for family (fjölskylda) is a feminine noun, so the basic masculine word minn changes to its feminine form, mín.
Where is the word for "the" in Fjölskyldan?
In Icelandic, "the" is usually added to the end of a word rather than being a separate word in front. The base word for family is fjölskylda. By adding -n to the end, it becomes Fjölskyldan (the family).
Does the word for "large" (stór) also have to match the noun?
Yes! Just like the word for "my", adjectives must match the gender of the noun they describe. The spelling of stór happens to be the exact same for both masculine and feminine words in this basic form, but if you were describing a neuter word like hús (house), it would change to stórt.
Learn Fjölskyldan mín er stór and more in Icelandic
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free