Language/Icelandic/Grammar/Articles

Icelandic does not have an indefinite article (a/an in English), and the definite article (the) is usually added onto the end of the word.

The examples below show three nouns, one for each respective gender, declined in the nominative:

masculine: drengur - "(a) boy" becomes drengurinn - "the boy"

feminine: stúlka - "(a) girl" becomes stúlkan - "the girl"

neuter: barn - "(a) child" becomes barnið - "the child"

The independent or free-standing definite article (not attached to the noun as a suffix) exists in Icelandic in the form hinn. It is mostly used in poetry and irregularly elsewhere (there are hardly any rules for the latter case; it is mainly a matter of taste).