Breakdown of Tvö dýr eru úti og eitt er inni.
vera
to be
og
and
úti
outside
inni
inside
einn
one
tveir
two
dýrið
the animal
Questions & Answers about Tvö dýr eru úti og eitt er inni.
Why is the number two written as tvö here instead of tveir?
In Icelandic, the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 change their form to match the gender of the noun they are counting. The word for animal, dýr, is a neuter noun. Because of this, we must use the neuter form for two, which is tvö, rather than the masculine form tveir.
How do we know dýr is plural in this sentence?
Neuter nouns with no special ending often look exactly the same in both the singular and the plural. You can tell it means animals in the plural here because of the context clues: it comes right after tvö (two) and is followed by the plural verb eru (are).
Why does the second part of the sentence use eitt instead of einn?
Just like with the number two, the number one has to match the gender of the noun it refers to. Even though the word dýr isn't repeated in the second half of the sentence, the number one is still referring to an animal. So, we must use the neuter form eitt.
Why do we use úti and inni rather than út and inn?
Úti (outside) and inni (inside) are used when someone or something is already in that location. If the animals were actively moving from the inside to the outside, you would use the motion words út and inn. Since they are just staying in their locations, we use the stationary forms.
Learn Tvö dýr eru úti og eitt er inni 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