Breakdown of Þessir kassar eru fyrir pappann og pappírinn.
vera
to be
og
and
kassinn
the box
þessi
this (m/f)
fyrir
for (fyrir þig)
pappinn
the cardboard
pappírinn
the paper
Questions & Answers about Þessir kassar eru fyrir pappann og pappírinn.
Why do we use þessir here instead of þessar or þessi?
Þessir means "these" for masculine nouns in the nominative case. It perfectly matches the noun kassar (boxes), which is masculine, plural, and the subject of the sentence. If you were talking about feminine things, you would use þessar, and for neuter things, you would use þessi.
Why are both pappann and pappírinn in the accusative case?
The preposition fyrir dictates the case of the words that follow it. When fyrir means "intended for" or "for the purpose of", it forces the following nouns into the accusative case.
How does the word pappi (cardboard) change to pappann?
Pappi is a weak masculine noun, which means it ends in a vowel. In the accusative case, it drops the "i" and becomes pappa. To say "the cardboard", you attach the masculine accusative definite article -nn to the end, giving you pappann.
Why does the ending for "the" look slightly different on pappírinn compared to pappann?
Pappír (paper) is a strong masculine noun ending in a consonant, and its accusative form is just pappír. Because it ends in a consonant, you must attach the full article -inn to mean "the", making it pappírinn. You only use the shorter -nn ending on nouns that already end in a vowel, like pappa.
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