Breakdown of Hvolpurinn þeirra er í íbúð í Reykjavík.
vera
to be
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
Reykjavík
Reykjavik
þeirra
their / theirs
íbúðin
the apartment
hvolpurinn
the puppy
Questions & Answers about Hvolpurinn þeirra er í íbúð í Reykjavík.
Why does þeirra (their) come after hvolpurinn (the puppy)?
In Icelandic, possessive words usually come right after the noun they belong to. Also, notice that the noun hvolpurinn has the definite article attached to the end (making it "the puppy" instead of just "a puppy"). So literally, the phrase is structured as "the puppy of theirs".
Does þeirra change its ending depending on the noun it owns?
The current lesson is about genitive -s and -ar endings. Why don't íbúð or Reykjavík have them here?
Because those nouns aren't showing possession in this sentence! The genitive case is for ownership. Here, íbúð and Reykjavík follow the preposition í (in) to show a fixed location, which requires the dative case instead.
Are íbúð and Reykjavík in the dative case then? They look exactly like their basic dictionary forms.
Yes, they are in the dative case! For many feminine nouns like íbúð (apartment) and Reykjavík, the dative singular form happens to be spelled exactly the same as the basic nominative form. The preposition í is the context clue that tells you they are dative here.
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