Understanding Icelandic Adjective Agreement
In Icelandic, adjectives need to match the nouns they describe. This means they change their form depending on the noun's gender, number, and case. Let's explore how this works!
Important Points
- Adjectives must match the gender of the noun: masculine, feminine, or neuter.
- Adjectives must match the number of the noun: singular or plural.
- Adjectives must match the case of the noun: nominative, accusative, dative, or genitive.
When you describe something in Icelandic, you need to make sure the adjective 'agrees' with the noun. This means it changes its ending to fit with the noun's gender, number, and case.
Examples
- Hann er góður drengur. (He is a good boy.)
- Hún er góð stelpa. (She is a good girl.)
- Það er gott barn. (It is a good child.)
In these examples, the word for 'good' changes depending on whether we're talking about a boy, a girl, or a child. This is because the gender of the noun changes.
Examples
- Ég á góða bók. (I have a good book.)
- Við eigum góðar bækur. (We have good books.)
- Þú átt góða vini. (You have good friends.)
Here, the adjective 'good' changes to match the number and case of the noun. Notice how it looks different when describing one book versus many books.