Breakdown of Þessi söngvari er frá Íslandi.
vera
to be
frá
from
Ísland
Iceland
þessi
this (m/f)
söngvarinn
the singer
Questions & Answers about Þessi söngvari er frá Íslandi.
Why do we use þessi here instead of þetta?
The word for "this" has to match the gender of the noun it points to. Söngvari (singer) is a masculine noun. In the nominative (subject) case, we use þessi for masculine and feminine nouns, but þetta for neuter nouns.
If I want to say "this singer", do I need to add "the" to the end of the noun?
No, when you use þessi, you use the basic, indefinite form of the noun. You say þessi söngvari (this singer), not þessi söngvarinn. In Icelandic, saying "this the singer" is incorrect.
The country is "Ísland", so why does it say Íslandi with an "i" at the end?
That happens because of the preposition frá (from). In Icelandic, prepositions force the noun that follows them into a specific grammatical case. The word frá always forces the next word into the dative case. For a neuter noun like Ísland, the dative form adds an -i to the end.
Wait, söngvari ends in an "i" too. Is it also in the dative case like Íslandi?
Good catch, but no! Söngvari is in the nominative (subject) case here because it is the main subject of the sentence. Many masculine nouns in Icelandic simply end in -i naturally in their basic dictionary form.
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