Breakdown of Bróðir minn stendur í inniskónum og drekkur kaffið.
og
and
kaffið
the coffee
drekka
to drink
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
bróðirinn
the brother
minn
my (m, f, n: minn, mín, mitt)
standa
to stand
inniskórinn
the slipper
Questions & Answers about Bróðir minn stendur í inniskónum og drekkur kaffið.
In English, this translates as 'is standing... and drinking'. Why doesn't it use er að to show that action is happening right now?
While vera að (to be doing) is the standard way to show continuous action in Icelandic, actions that happen while sitting, standing, or lying down are an exception. Instead of saying 'he is standing and he is drinking', Icelandic uses the posture verb (stendur) followed by og (and) and another active verb in the same tense (drekkur).
Why is inniskónum in the dative case here?
The preposition í (in) takes the dative case when it describes a fixed location or state (where something is). Since the brother is already standing in the slippers rather than stepping into them, it takes the dative. If he were putting them on (movement into), í would take the accusative case instead.
How does the word inniskónum break down to mean 'the slippers'?
It is a compound of inni (inside/indoors) and skór (shoes). The -num at the end is the dative plural definite article ('the'). Without the article attached, it would just be í inniskóm (in slippers).
Why is the word order bróðir minn (brother my) instead of minn bróðir?
In Icelandic, possessive words like minn (my) almost always come after the noun they describe. You will sometimes see them before the noun for special emphasis, but putting them after is the standard, natural word order.
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