Questions & Answers about Í gær var maturinn mjög góður.
Why does var come before maturinn in this sentence?
Icelandic uses a rule called V2 word order, meaning the main verb is almost always the second piece of information. Because the sentence starts with the time phrase Í gær (Yesterday), the verb var (was) has to come next, pushing the subject maturinn (the food) to the third spot.
How do I know to use var here instead of a plural form like voru?
Var is the past tense form of the verb to be for he, she, and it. Since maturinn (the food) counts as a single thing, we use var. If we were talking about multiple things, we would use the plural form voru.
Why is the adjective góður used here instead of gott?
In Icelandic, adjectives must match the gender of the noun they describe. The word matur (food) is a masculine noun. Therefore, the adjective must be in its masculine form, which is góður. If we were describing a neuter word, we would use gott.