Breakdown of Ert þú að undirrita leigusamninginn þann þriðja júní?
vera
to be
þú
you
að
to (infinitive marker)
þriðji
third
júní
June
sá
that (sá, sú, það; þann)
undirrita
to sign
leigusamningurinn
the lease agreement
Questions & Answers about Ert þú að undirrita leigusamninginn þann þriðja júní?
How do we express 'on the' for dates in this sentence, and why use þann?
In Icelandic, to say an event happens 'on' a specific date, we use the determiner þann followed by the date in the accusative case. You can think of it as literally saying 'that third of June'.
Why is the word for 'third' written as þriðja instead of þriðji?
Because of the rule for stating dates! When saying 'on the [Xth]', the ordinal number must be in the accusative case. The basic masculine form þriðji changes to þriðja in the accusative. All months in Icelandic are masculine, so the numbers describing them take masculine endings too.
Let's break down leigusamninginn. Why does it end in -inn?
This is a compound noun made of leiga (rent/lease) and samningur (agreement). It is the direct object being signed, so it takes the accusative case. For a masculine noun like samningur, the accusative form drops the '-ur' to become samning, and adding the attached definite article ('the') makes it leigusamninginn.
Why use ert þú að undirrita instead of just the simple present verb?
Just like in English, Icelandic uses the continuous form (vera að + infinitive verb) to talk about an action that is currently happening or a highly specific, planned future action. It emphasizes the active process of signing the lease on that exact day.
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