Breakdown of Hún málaði bílskúr Einars í gær.
hún
she
í gær
yesterday
mála
to paint
bílskúrinn
the garage
Einar
Einar
Questions & Answers about Hún málaði bílskúr Einars í gær.
How do we form "Einar's" in Icelandic?
To show possession or ownership, Icelandic uses the genitive case. For many masculine names like Einar, you simply add an -s to the end, giving us Einars. Notice that the owner (Einars) comes right after the thing being owned (bílskúr), which is the exact opposite of how we say "Einar's garage" in English!
Is bílskúr in the accusative case here?
Yes! Because the garage is the direct object receiving the action of the verb málaði (painted), it is in the accusative case. For this particular masculine noun, the accusative form happens to look exactly the same as the nominative (dictionary) form: bílskúr.
What is the dictionary form of málaði?
The infinitive (dictionary form) is mála (to paint). Here we are using the past tense form málaði to mean "painted".
Why is there an í before gær?
To say "yesterday" in Icelandic, you must always use the fixed two-word phrase í gær (which literally translates to "in yesterday"). You won't see the word gær used all by itself.
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