Learn Icelandic: Leigusalinn hitti leigjandann þann áttunda september. - The landlord met the tenant on the eighth of September.

In Icelandic, to state that something happens "on the [Xth]" of a month, we don't use a preposition. Instead, we use the determiner þann followed by an ordinal number (like first, second, eighth) in the accusative case. Since month names are masculine, þann and the number take their masculine forms.

Why is the word for eighth written as áttunda here instead of the dictionary form áttundi?

When we use þann to state a date, the ordinal number that follows must be in the accusative case. The masculine nominative (basic) form is áttundi, but its accusative form changes the final -i to an -a, making it áttunda.

Why does the word for "the tenant" (leigjandann) end in -ann?

The verb hitta (to meet) requires the person being met (the object) to be in the accusative case. The base word for a tenant is leigjandi, which changes to leigjanda in the accusative. When we attach the definite article suffix to mean "the" tenant, the full word becomes leigjandann.

Leigusalinn (the landlord) and leigjandann (the tenant) look very similar. Is there an easy way to tell them apart?