Learn Icelandic: Afsakið, hvar er veitingastaðurinn? - Excuse me, where is the restaurant?

Afsakið, hvar er veitingastaðurinn?

Excuse me, where is the restaurant?

Breakdown of Afsakið, hvar er veitingastaðurinn?

Questions & Answers about Afsakið, hvar er veitingastaðurinn?

Where is the word for 'the' in veitingastaðurinn?

In Icelandic, 'the' isn't a separate word that goes before the noun. Instead, it gets attached to the end of the word. The base word for restaurant is veitingastaður, and the -inn at the very end is the masculine ending that means 'the'.

What is the literal translation of veitingastaður?

Icelandic loves building new words out of smaller ones! This breaks down into veitinga (which relates to refreshments or serving food) and staður (meaning 'place'). So a restaurant is literally a 'refreshment place'.

Is afsakið used to apologize or just to get someone's attention?

You can use it for both! Afsakið means 'excuse me' when you want to politely ask a stranger a question, but it also means 'sorry' if you accidentally bump into someone.

Does the word order change when asking a question with hvar?

In Icelandic questions that start with a question word like hvar (where), the verb always comes immediately second. This matches English perfectly in this sentence, so hvar er translates directly to 'where is'.