Breakdown of Hvar er fjölskyldan þín?
vera
to be
hvar
where
þinn
your (m, f, n: þinn, þín, þitt)
fjölskyldan
the family
Questions & Answers about Hvar er fjölskyldan þín?
Why is the word for your spelled þín here instead of þinn?
Possessive words have to match the gender, number, and case of the noun they describe. Because fjölskylda (family) is a feminine noun in the nominative (subject) case, the default masculine word þinn changes to the feminine form þín.
Why does þín come after the word for family?
In Icelandic, possessive words like my and your usually come right after the noun, which is the exact opposite of English. You are literally saying Where is family-the your?
Why does it say fjölskyldan (the family) instead of just fjölskylda (family)?
Whenever you put a possessive word like þín after a noun, that noun almost always needs the definite article (the the ending) attached to it. So you take fjölskylda, add the feminine the ending -n to make fjölskyldan, and then add þín.
Since a family has many people, why do we use the singular verb er (is) instead of eru (are)?
Even though a family is a group of several people, the word fjölskylda itself is a singular noun, exactly like in English. Because it is singular, it takes the singular verb er (is) and the singular possessive pronoun þín.
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