Breakdown of Við kaupum þennan bíl. Hann er flottur.
vera
to be
bíllinn
the car
hann
he
við
we
kaupa
to buy
þessi
this (m/f)
flottur
cool
Questions & Answers about Við kaupum þennan bíl. Hann er flottur.
Why is it þennan bíl instead of þessi bíll?
Kaupa (to buy) is an action happening to the car, making the car the direct object of the sentence. Objects typically take the accusative case. Because bíll is a masculine noun, we must use the masculine accusative form of 'this', which is þennan. The noun itself also changes to the accusative, dropping its second 'l' to become bíl.
Why use hann (he) for a car in the second sentence?
In Icelandic, all nouns have a grammatical gender: masculine, feminine, or neuter. Because bíll is a masculine noun, you must use the masculine pronoun hann when referring back to it, even though we just say 'it' in English.
Why does the adjective flottur end in -ur?
Adjectives change their endings to match the gender of the noun they describe. Since hann is replacing the masculine noun bíll, the adjective for 'cool' must be in the masculine nominative form, which is flottur.
Does við kaupum mean 'we buy' or 'we are buying'?
It means both! Icelandic does not have a separate continuous tense like English does. Við kaupum can translate to 'we buy' as a habit, or 'we are buying' right now, depending entirely on the context.
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