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Var þessi söngvari veikur í gær?

Var þessi söngvari veikur í gær?
Was this singer sick yesterday?
From Lesson 43:"This" in the nominative (þessi, þessi, þetta)·Icelandic

Breakdown of Var þessi söngvari veikur í gær?

vera
to be
veikur
sick
í gær
yesterday
þessi
this (m/f)
söngvarinn
the singer

Questions & Answers about Var þessi söngvari veikur í gær?

Why do we use þessi here instead of þetta?
Þessi (this) changes depending on the gender of the noun it belongs to. Since söngvari (singer) is a masculine noun, we use the masculine form þessi. If the noun were neuter, we would use þetta instead.
Why does the adjective veikur end in -ur?
Adjectives in Icelandic must match the gender of the noun they describe. Because söngvari is a masculine noun, the adjective for sick takes the masculine ending -ur to become veikur.
Why does this question start with the verb Var?
Just like in English, Icelandic makes a yes/no question by putting the verb first. If it were a statement, it would be Þessi söngvari var veikur meaning This singer was sick. Moving var (was) to the front makes it a question.
Why is there an í before gær?
The phrase í gær is a fixed expression that means yesterday. Literally, it translates to in yesterday. Icelandic often uses prepositions like í (in) for time expressions, so it is best to memorize í gær as a single vocabulary chunk.

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