Iceland has no indefinite article (English ‘a’, ‘an’), but it has a definite one (English ‘the’). However, unlike English, the article is attached to the end of the word as a suffix, not before it. In addition, both the noun and the suffixed article need to be declined.
nom sg: -inn, acc sg: -inn, dat sg: -num, gen sg: -ins
nom pl: -nir, acc pl: -na, dat pl: -num, gen pl: -nna
So, for example, we find hesturinn, hestinn, hestinum, hestsins, hestarnir, hestana, hestunna, hestanna.
nom sg: -in, acc sg: -ina, dat sg: -inni, gen sg: -innar
nom pl: -nar, acc pl: -nar, dat pl: -num, gen pl: -nna
So, for example, we find kinnin, kinnina, kinninni, kinnarinnar, kinnarnar, kinnarnar, kinnunum, kinnana.
nom sg: -ið, acc sg: -ið, dat sg: -nu, gen sg: -ins
nom pl: -in, acc pl: -in, dat pl: -num, gen pl: -nna
So, for example, we find barnið, barnið, barninu, barnsins, börnin, börnin, börnunum, barnanna.
Notice that the dative and genitive plural articles are the same, regardless of gender.
A few things to watch out for though:
The loss of -m in the dative plural because of n-m clash (hence hestunum, not hestumnum).
The loss of -a in the genitive plural after á, ó, ú in all feminine nouns and certain masculine and neuters (ánna, not áanna… skónna, not skóanna).
The loss of -u in feminine and neuter -ur nouns (lifrin, not lifurin… hreiðrið, not hreiðurið).
The loss of -i in monosyllabic articles after a, i , u, é (tímann, not tímainn… tréð, not tréið), and in disyllabic articles in masculine/neuter dat sg (staðnum, not staðinum… búinu, not búiinu) and feminine acc/dat/gen sg after a vowel (liljunnar, not liljuinnar). Technically this loss also occurs in disyllabic articles attached to all plural nouns, but we already shortened them for you in the above paradigms (-num is technically -inum, etc.).
Many of these happen for obvious reasons and shouldn’t be too difficult to remember when happened upon. Like áanna clearly doesn’t look right… this isn’t Finnish. XD
And, if you’re ever confused about whether or not you’re doing it right, BÍN provides the correct noun+article combinations alongside the standard noun declensions.
In addition to the suffixed article Icelandic also has a free article, which is actually the full form of the suffixed article (hinn/hin/hið). However, it’s not commonly seen. The reason is that it’s only possible if an adjective intervenes (hinn góði maður), and even then the suffixed article can still be used (góði maðurinn). While relatively unheard in spoken language, it’s common enough in literary and formal settings to warrant knowing.
nom sg: hinn, acc sg: hinn, dat sg: hinum, gen sg: hins
nom pl: hinir, acc pl: hina, dat pl: hinum, gen pl: hinna
nom sg: hin, acc sg: hina, dat sg: hinni, gen sg: hinnar
nom pl: hinar, acc pl: hinar, dat pl: hinum, gen pl: hinna
nom sg: hið, acc sg: hið, dat sg: hinu, gen sg: hins
nom pl: hin, acc pl: hin, dat pl: hinum, gen pl: hinna
Notice again that the dative and genitive plurals are the same. This will also apply to Adjectives, which we’ll see next week!
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