Ég var svangur en nú er ég mettur af því að ég borðaði allt grænmetið.

Questions & Answers about Ég var svangur en nú er ég mettur af því að ég borðaði allt grænmetið.

Why is the word for "all" spelled allt in this sentence?
allt is the neuter singular accusative form of the pronoun allur. It must match the gender, number, and case of the noun it describes. Because it modifies grænmetið (the vegetables), which is a neuter noun acting as the direct object of the verb borðaði (ate), it takes the neuter accusative form allt.
The English translation says "vegetables" in the plural. Why are allt and grænmetið in the singular?
In Icelandic, grænmeti is an uncountable neuter noun. It works a bit like the English word "produce" or "clothing" and is always grammatically singular. Because the noun is singular, the pronoun modifying it must also be singular, which is why we use allt instead of a plural form like öll.
Would a female speaker say this sentence exactly the same way?
No, she would need to change the adjectives to match her gender. The words svangur (hungry) and mettur (full) are the masculine forms. A female speaker would use the feminine forms and say: Ég var svöng en nú er ég mett.
Why do we use the three-word phrase af því að here?
This is the standard Icelandic phrase for "because". Literally, it translates to "of it that", but you should treat it as a set phrase that acts as a single conjunction connecting the two parts of the sentence.
After en (but), why is the word order nú er ég instead of nú ég er?
This happens because of the V2 (verb-second) rule. In Icelandic, the verb usually has to be the second piece of information in a clause. Since the word (now) takes up the first slot, the verb er (am) must jump into the second slot, pushing the subject ég (I) to the third slot.

Learn Ég var svangur en nú er ég mettur af því að ég borðaði allt grænmetið and more in Icelandic

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • Practice with interactive exercises
  • Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • Learn at your own pace — completely free