Breakdown of Kennarinn minn er enskur.
vera
to be
kennarinn
the teacher
minn
my (m, f, n: minn, mín, mitt)
enskur
English (adjective)
Questions & Answers about Kennarinn minn er enskur.
Why does it say kennarinn minn instead of just kennari minn?
In Icelandic, when you use a possessive word like minn (my), the noun usually needs the definite article attached to the end of it. So kennari (a teacher) becomes kennarinn (the teacher), and then you add minn. Literally, it translates to "the teacher my".
Why does the word for "my" (minn) come after the noun?
Unlike in English, possessive words like minn almost always come right after the noun they belong to in Icelandic. You can sometimes put them before the noun for special emphasis, but putting them after is the normal, everyday way to speak.
Why isn't the word for English (enskur) capitalized here?
In Icelandic, adjectives for nationalities and languages are written with lowercase letters, even though we capitalize them in English. You only capitalize enskur if it is the very first word of a sentence.
Would the word enskur change if we used a feminine noun instead?
Yes! Adjectives must match the grammatical gender of the noun they describe. The word kennari is masculine in Icelandic, so we use the masculine adjective enskur, along with the masculine "my" (minn). If you used a feminine noun instead, those words would change endings to match it.
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