Breakdown of Bókin er í þremur köflum.
vera
to be
bókin
the book
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
þrír
three
kaflinn
the chapter
Questions & Answers about Bókin er í þremur köflum.
Why is the number three written as þremur here instead of þrír?
The preposition í forces the following words into the dative case here because it describes a static state, in this case, how the book is divided. The dative form of the number three is þremur.
Does þremur change if the noun it describes is feminine or neuter?
No! While the numbers 1 to 4 usually change to match the gender of the noun they describe, the number 3 in the dative case is always þremur for masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns alike. It is a very handy shortcut to remember.
The dictionary word for chapter is kafli. Why does it change to köflum here?
Two things are happening. First, the dative plural ending for almost all nouns is -um. Second, adding an ending with a u triggers a rule called the u-shift, which changes an a in the root word to an ö. So, kafl- plus -um becomes köflum.
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