Word
Það snjóar hér og snjórinn er fallegur.
Meaning
It is snowing here and the snow is beautiful.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Það snjóar hér og snjórinn er fallegur.
vera
to be
hér
here
og
and
það
it / there (existential) / the one (n)
Questions & Answers about Það snjóar hér og snjórinn er fallegur.
Why do we use Það at the beginning of the sentence?
Það translates to it and acts as a dummy subject here. Just like in English where we say it is snowing instead of just is snowing, Icelandic uses Það to fill the subject spot for weather expressions that do not have a real person or thing doing the action.
What is the difference between snjóar and snjórinn in this sentence?
Snjóar is an action word (a verb) meaning is snowing. On the other hand, snjórinn is a naming word (a noun) meaning the snow. They look similar because they come from the same root word.
Where is the word for the in snjórinn?
In Icelandic, the word for the is usually attached to the end of a noun instead of coming as a separate word before it. The base word is snjór (snow), and because it is a masculine word, we attach the masculine ending -inn to make it snjórinn (the snow).
Why does the adjective fallegur end in -ur?
Adjectives in Icelandic change their endings to match the gender of the noun they describe. Because snjórinn is a masculine noun, the word for beautiful must also use its masculine form, which is fallegur.