Breakdown of Sólin skín mikið í júlí og ágúst.
og
and
mikið
a lot
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
skína
to shine
Questions & Answers about Sólin skín mikið í júlí og ágúst.
Why aren't júlí and ágúst capitalized in this sentence?
In Icelandic, the months of the year and the days of the week are always written with lowercase letters. You only capitalize them if they happen to be the very first word of a sentence.
Do júlí and ágúst change their word endings after the preposition í?
No, they don't! Many of the month names in Icelandic, including júlí and ágúst, are borrowed words that are indeclinable. This is great news for learners because it means they look exactly the same no matter what grammatical case the sentence requires.
Why use mikið here instead of another word for 'much' or 'very'?
Here, mikið is acting as an adverb to describe how much the sun shines. It is actually the neuter singular form of the adjective mikill (much). When Icelandic uses an adjective to describe an action like a verb, it almost always uses this neuter singular form.
How does the word sólin break down?
It is made up of the base noun sól (sun) plus the attached definite article -in (the). Because sól is a feminine noun, it takes this specific feminine ending to mean 'the sun' rather than just 'a sun'.