Breakdown of Barnið er að hlaupa úti.
vera
to be
barnið
the child
úti
outside
að
to (infinitive marker)
hlaupa
to run
Questions & Answers about Barnið er að hlaupa úti.
How does the sentence show that the child "is running" right now?
It uses the Icelandic present continuous pattern. You take a form of vera (to be) - which is er here - and add að plus the basic infinitive verb hlaupa (to run). Together, er að hlaupa means "is running".
Does að hlaupa translate to "running" on its own?
No, að hlaupa simply means "to run". It only translates to an "-ing" action in English here because it is part of the vera að structure. Without a form of vera (to be) in front of it, it just means "to run".
Why does the sentence use barnið instead of just barn?
Barn means "child". Icelandic doesn't have a separate word for "the" that sits in front of the noun. Instead, it attaches a definite article to the end of the word. Because barn is a neuter noun, it gets the ending -ið, becoming barnið (the child).
I have seen the word út used for "outside". Why does this sentence use úti?
In Icelandic, direction words change depending on whether there is movement to a new place or if you are staying in one location. Út is used for motion (like going outside), while úti is used when you are already located there. Since the child is simply located outside while running around, we use úti.
Learn Barnið er að hlaupa úti 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