Breakdown of Afi minn er áttatíu ára, en hann er mjög heilbrigður og virkur.
vera
to be
og
and
hann
he
en
but
mjög
very
minn
my (m, f, n: minn, mín, mitt)
afinn
the grandfather
áttatíu
eighty
ára
years old
virkur
active
heilbrigður
healthy (of a person or living being)
Questions & Answers about Afi minn er áttatíu ára, en hann er mjög heilbrigður og virkur.
Why do we use ára instead of just ár for 'years'?
Does the number áttatíu change its form to match the masculine subject?
No. While the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 change their endings to match the gender and case of the noun they describe, numbers from 5 and up generally do not change. Áttatíu will look exactly the same whether you are talking about a grandfather, a grandmother, or a building.
Why is it Afi minn and not Minn afi?
In Icelandic, possessive words like minn (my) usually come after the noun in everyday speech. Putting it before the noun (minn afi) isn't strictly wrong, but it sounds very poetic or puts a heavy, specific emphasis on the word 'my'.
Why do the adjectives heilbrigður and virkur both end in -ur?
Adjectives in Icelandic change their endings to agree with the noun they describe. Because afi (grandfather) and hann (he) are masculine, singular, and the subject of the sentence (nominative case), the adjectives take the standard masculine singular subject ending -ur.
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