Faroese/Grammar
< Faroese
Faroese grammar is related and very similar to that of Icelandic and, to less extent, Elfdalian. Faroese is an inflected language with three genders and four cases: nominative, accusative, dative and genitive.
Noun inflection
[edit | edit source]Below is a representation of three grammatical genders, two numbers and four cases in the nominal inflection. This is just an overview to give a general idea of how the grammar works. Faroese actually has even more declensions. In modern Faroese the genitive has a very limited use.
Read:
- hvør, hvat? interrogative pronoun "who, what?"
- ein indefinite article "a"
- stórur adjective "big"
- bátur noun "boat"
- ein stórur bátur - a big boat (m.)
- ein vøkur genta - a beautiful girl (f.)
- eitt gott barn - a good child (n.)
In the plural you will see that even the numeral tvey (2) is inflected.
| Indefinite phrases | ||||||
| Singular | ? | Masculine | ? | Feminine | ? | Neuter |
| Nominative | hvør? | ein stórur bátur | hvør? | ein vøkur genta | hvat? | eitt gott barn |
| Accusative | hvønn? | ein stóran bát | hvørja? | eina vakra gentu | hvat? | eitt gott barn |
| Dative | hvørjum? | einum stórum báti | hvørj(ar)i? | einari vakari gentu | hvørjum? | einum góðum barni |
| Genitive | hvørs? | eins stórs báts | hvørjar? | einar vakrar gentu | hvørs? | eins góðs barns |
| Plural | ? | Masculine | ? | Feminine | ? | Neuter |
| Nominative | hvørjir? | tveir stórir bátar | hvørjar? | tvær vakrar gentur | hvørji? | tvey góð børn |
| Accusative | hvørjar? | tveir stórar bátar | hvørjar? | tvær vakrar gentur | hvørji? | tvey góð børn |
| Dative | hvørjum? | tveimum stórum bátum | hvørjum? | tveimum vøkrum gentum | hvørjum? | tveimum góðum børnum |
| Genitive | hvørja? | tveggja stóra báta | hvørja? | tveggja vakra genta | hvørja? | tveggja góða barna |
If the noun is definite, the adjective inflects weak, and the noun gets a suffix article as in any Scandinavian language (except for Old Norse).
The interrogative pronoun is the same as above. In the plural, the plural form of the definite article is used.
Read:
- tann stóri báturin - the big boat-the
- tann vakra gentan - the beautiful girl-the
- tað góða barnið - the good child-the
| Definite phrases | |||
| Singular | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
| Nominative | tann stóri báturin | tann vakra gentan | tað góða barnið |
| Accusative | tann stóra bátin | ta vøkru gentuna | tað góða barnið |
| Dative | tí stóra bátinum | tí vøkru gentuni | tí góða barninum |
| Genitive | tess stóra bátsins | teirrar vøkru gentunnar | tess góða barnsins |
| Plural | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
| Nominative | teir stóru bátarnir | tær vøkru genturnar | tey góðu børnini |
| Accusative | teir stóru bátarnar | tær vøkru genturnar | tey góðu børnini |
| Dative | teimum stóru bátunum | teimum vøkru gentunum | teimum góðu børnunum |
| Genitive | teirra stóru bátanna | teirra vøkru gentunna | teirra góðu barnanna |
Personal Pronouns
[edit | edit source]The personal pronouns of Faroese are:
| Personal pronouns | |||||
| Singular | 1. | 2. | 3. m | 3. f | 3. n |
| Nominative | eg | tú | hann | hon | tað |
| Accusative | meg | teg | hana | ||
| Dative | mær | tær | honum | henni | tí |
| Genitive | mín | tín | hansara | hennara | tess |
| Plural | 1. | 2. | 3. m | 3. f | 3. n |
| Nominative | vit | tit | teir | tær | tey |
| Accusative | okkum | tykkum | |||
| Dative | teimum | ||||
| Genitive | okkara | tykkara | teirra | ||
Singular
- 1st person: eg [eː] - I, meg [meː] - me (acc.), mær [mɛaɹ] - me (dat.), mín [mʊin] - my
- 2nd person: tú [tʉu] - you, teg [teː] - you (acc.), tær [tɛaɹ] - you (dat.), tín [tʊin] - your (gen.)
- 3rd person masculine: hann [hanː] - he, him (nom., acc.), honum [ˈhoːnʊn] - him (dat.), hansara [ˈhansaɹa] - his (gen.)
- 3rd person feminine: hon [hoːn] - she, hana [ˈhɛana] - her (acc.), henni [hɛnːɪ] - her (dat.), hennara [ˈhɛnːaɹa] - her (gen.)
- 3rd person neuter: tað [tɛa] - it (nom., acc.), tí [tʊi] - it (dat.), tess [tɛsː] - its (gen.)
Plural
- 1st person: vit [viːt] - we, okkum [ɔʰkːʊn] - us (acc., dat.), okkara [ˈɔʰkːaɹa] - our (gen.)
- 2nd person: tit [tiːt] - you (pl.), tykkum [ˈtɪʰkːʊn] - you (acc., dat. pl.) tykkara [ˈtɪʰkːaɹa] - your (gen. pl.)
- 3rd person masculine: teir [taiɹ]/[tɔiɹ] - they, them (m. nom., acc.), teimum [ˈtaimʊn]/[ˈtɔimʊn] - them (dat.), teirra [ˈtaiɹːa]/[ˈtɔiɹːa] - their (gen.)
- 3rd person feminine: tær [tɛaɹ] - they, them (f. nom., acc.)
- 3rd person neuter: tey [tɛi] - they, them (n. nom., acc.)
The 3rd person plural neuter tey will be used in all cases when both genders are meant, as in:
- teir eru onglendingar - they are Englishmen (about males)
- tær eru føroyingar - they are Faroese (about females)
- tey eru fólk úr Evropa - they are people from Europe (both sexes)
Verbs
[edit | edit source]Weak Inflection
[edit | edit source]There are 4 classes of weak inflection of verbs (with some underclasses). E.g.:
- stem-final -a, 2-3.pers.sg. -r - kalla! (imperative), tú/hann kalla-r (you/he call(s))
- 2-3.pers.sg. -ur - tú/hann selur (you/he sell(s))
- 2-3.pers.sg. -ir - tú/hann dømir (you/he judge(s))
- 2. pers.sg. -rt - tú rørt (you row). There occurs a Verschärfung in certain surroundings: eg rógvi [eː ɹɛɡvɪ], I row; vs. eg róði [eː ɹɔuwɪ], I rowed.
| Weak Inflection | ||||||||
| Infinitive | 1. kalla | 2. selja | 3. døma | 4. rógva | ||||
| Singular | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past |
| 1st pers. | kalli | kallaði | selji | seldi | dømi | dømdi | rógvi | róði |
| 2nd pers. | kallar | kallaði | selur | seldi | dømir | dømdi | rørt | róði |
| 3rd pers. | kallar | kallaði | selur | seldi | dømir | dømdi | rør | róði |
| Plural | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past |
| 1st, 2nd, 3rd pers. | kalla | kallaðu | selja | seldu | døma | dømdu | rógva | róðu |
| Supine | kallað | selt | dømt | róð | ||||
Strong Inflection
[edit | edit source]These verbs are also referred to as regular. There are 7 classes (with underclasses), distinguished by the variations of the stem-vowel:
- í - í - ei - i- i; - at bíta - hann bítur - hann beit - teir bitu - teir hava bitið (bite)
- ó/ú - ý - ey - u- o; - at bróta - hann býtur - hann breyt - teir brutu - teir hava brotið (break)
- e/i/ø - i - a - u- o/u; - at svimja - hann svimur - hann svam - teir svumu - teir hava svomið (swim)
- e/o - e - a - ó - o; - at bera - hann ber - hann bar - teir bóru - teir hava borið (bear)
- o - e - o - o - o; - at koma - hann kemur - hann kom - teir komu - teir hava komið (come)
- e/i - e/i - a/á - ó - i; - at liggja - hann liggur - hann lá - teir lógu - teir hava ligið (lie)
- a - e - ó - ó - a; - at fara - hann fer - hann fór - teir fóru - teir hava farið (go)
- a/á - æ - e - i - i; - at fáa - hann fær - hann fekk - teir fingu - teir hava fingið (get)
| Strong Inflection | ||||||||||||||
| Infinitive | 1. bíta | 2. bróta | 3. svimja | 4. koma | 5. liggja | 6. fara | 7. fáa | |||||||
| Singular | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past |
| 1st pers. | bíti | beit | bróti | breyt | svimji | svam | komi | kom | liggi | lá | fari | fór | fái | fekk |
| 2nd pers. | bítur | beitst | brýtur | breytst | svimur | svamst | kemur | komst | liggur | lást | fert | fórt | fært | fekst |
| 3rd pers. | bítur | beit | brýtur | breyt | svimur | svam | kemur | kom | liggur | lá | fer | fór | fær | fekk |
| Plural | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past |
| 1st, 2nd, 3rd pers. | bíta | bitu | bróta | brutu | svimja | svumu | koma | komu | liggja | lógu | fara | fóru | fáa | fingu |
| Supine | bitið | brotið | svomið | komið | ligið | farið | fingið | |||||||
Auxiliary verbs
[edit | edit source]The auxiliary verbs in Faroese are:
- at vera - to be
- at hava - to have
- at verða - to be, become
- at blíva - to be, become
| Auxiliary verbs | ||||||||
| Infinitive | 1. vera | 2. hava | 3. verða | 4. blíva | ||||
| Singular | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past |
| 1st pers. | eri | var | havi | hevði | verði | varð | blívi | bleiv |
| 2nd pers. | ert | vart | hevur | hevði | verður | varðst | blívur | bleivst |
| 3rd pers. | er | var | hevur | hevði | verður | varð | blívur | bleiv |
| Plural | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past |
| 1st, 2nd, 3rd pers. | eru | vóru | hava | høvdu | verða | vórðu | blíva | blivu |
| Supine | verið | havt | verðið | blivið | ||||
Note, that vera and verða are homonyms.
Preterite-present verbs
[edit | edit source]The preterite-present verbs in Faroese are the following:
- at kunna - to be able to
- at munna - to want
- at mega - to be allowed to
- at skula - shall
- at vita - to know
- at vilja - to want
| Preterite-present verbs | ||||||||||||
| Infinitive | 1. kunna | 2. munna | 3. mega | 4. skula | 5. vita | 6. vilja | ||||||
| Singular | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past |
| 1st pers. | kann | kundi | man | mundi | má | mátti | skal | skuldi | veit | visti | vil | vildi |
| 2nd pers. | kanst | kundi | manst | mundi | mást | mátti | skalt | skuldi | veitst | visti | vilt | vildi |
| 3rd pers. | kann | kundi | man | mundi | má | mátti | skal | skuldi | veit | visti | vil | vildi |
| Plural | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past |
| 1st, 2nd, 3rd pers. | kunnu/ kunna |
kundu | munnu/ munna |
mundu | mugu/ mega |
máttu | skulu/ skula |
skuldu | vita | vistu | vilja | vildu |
| Supine | kunnað | munnað | megað | skulað | vitað | viljað | ||||||
Adjectives
[edit | edit source]Most adjectives inflect for gender, number, case and definitiveness, and for positive, comparative and superlative.
Adverbs
[edit | edit source]Many adverbs inflect in positive, comparative and superlative.