Breakdown of Við erum ríkari en þið og þeir eru fátækari.
vera
to be
og
and
þið
you (plural)
við
we
þeir
they (m)
en
than
ríkur
rich
fátækur
poor
Questions & Answers about Við erum ríkari en þið og þeir eru fátækari.
How are the comparative words ríkari (richer) and fátækari (poorer) formed from their base adjectives?
You take the base adjectives ríkur (rich) and fátækur (poor), drop the masculine -ur ending, and add -ari. Adding -ari to the stem is the regular, most common way to create a comparative adjective in Icelandic.
Do ríkari and fátækari need special endings because við (we) and þeir (they) are plural?
Luckily, no! While basic adjectives in Icelandic change a lot to match gender and number, comparative adjectives ending in -ari are much simpler. They keep the exact same -ari ending for masculine, feminine, and all plural subjects. (Only singular neuter subjects get a slight change, ending in -ara).
Doesn't the word en usually mean "but"?
It does! However, when en is used together with a comparative adjective like ríkari, it acts as the conjunction "than". The context of comparing two things will always make it clear that it means "than" rather than "but".
The sentence uses þeir for "they". Does this tell us anything about who is in that second group?
Learn Við erum ríkari en þið og þeir eru fátækari 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