Breakdown of Hérna búum við á stórri eyju.
stór
big
við
we
á
onto / on / in (static location) / on (a day of the week)
hérna
here (colloquial, pointing)
búa
to live (in a place), to dwell
eyjan
the island
Questions & Answers about Hérna búum við á stórri eyju.
Why is the adjective stórri instead of just stór?
It is the feminine dative form. The preposition á triggers the dative case here because it describes a fixed location. Since the noun eyja (island) is feminine, the strong adjective stór (big) takes the feminine dative ending -ri, making it stórri.
Why does the noun change from eyja to eyju?
Eyja is a feminine noun. When feminine nouns that end in -a are used in the dative case, that ending changes to -u. Because the preposition á forces the dative case here, eyja becomes eyju.
Why is the word order búum við (live we) instead of við búum (we live)?
Icelandic follows the verb-second or V2 rule, meaning the main verb must be the second piece of information in the sentence. Because we started the sentence with the adverb Hérna (Here), the verb búum has to come next. The subject við gets pushed to the third position.
Does the preposition á always make the following words dative?
Not always. Prepositions like á take the dative case when they describe a stationary location, like living on an island. If you were describing movement onto the island, á would trigger the accusative case instead.
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