Word
Afi minn er gamall.
Meaning
My grandfather is old.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Afi minn er gamall.
vera
to be
gamall
old
minn
my (m, f, n: minn, mín, mitt)
afinn
the grandfather
Questions & Answers about Afi minn er gamall.
Why does it say Afi minn instead of Minn afi?
In Icelandic, possessive words like minn (my) usually come right after the noun they belong to. You can say minn afi for special emphasis, but afi minn is the normal, everyday way to say it.
How do I know to use minn here instead of mín or mitt?
Possessive words have to match the gender of the noun they belong to. Because afi (grandfather) is a masculine word, you use the masculine form minn. If you were talking about your grandmother, which is a feminine word, you would use mín.
Why is the word for old spelled gamall here?
Just like possessives, adjectives in Icelandic change to match the gender of the noun they describe. Gamall is the masculine form, perfectly matching the masculine noun afi.
Why is it just afi and not afinn (the grandfather)?
When you use a possessive word like minn right after a noun, you use the basic form of that noun. You do not add the 'the' ending, so it is just afi minn, not afinn minn.