Faroese/Grammar

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 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 ? NeuterNominative hvør? ein stórur bátur hvør? ein vøkur genta hvat? eitt gott barnAccusative hvønn? ein stóran bát hvørja? eina vakra gentu hvat? eitt gott barnDative hvørjum? einum stórum báti hvørj(ar)i? einari vakari gentu hvørjum? einum góðum barniGenitive hvørs? eins stórs báts hvørjar? einar vakrar gentu hvørs? eins góðs barns Plural ? Masculine ? Feminine ? NeuterNominative hvørjir? tveir stórir bátar hvørjar? tvær vakrar gentur hvørji? tvey góð børnAccusative hvørjar? tveir stórar bátar hvørjar? tvær vakrar gentur hvørji? tvey góð børnDative hvørjum? tveimum stórum bátum hvørjum? tveimum vøkrum gentum hvørjum? tveimum góðum børnumGenitive 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 NeuterNominative tann stóri báturin tann vakra gentan tað góða barniðAccusative tann stóra bátin ta vøkru gentuna tað góða barniðDative tí stóra bátinum tí vøkru gentuni tí góða barninumGenitive tess stóra bátsins teirrar vøkru gentunnar tess góða barnsins Plural Masculine Feminine NeuterNominative teir stóru bátarnir tær vøkru genturnar tey góðu børniniAccusative teir stóru bátarnar tær vøkru genturnar tey góðu børniniDative teimum stóru bátunum teimum vøkru gentunum teimum góðu børnunumGenitive teirra stóru bátanna teirra vøkru gentunna teirra góðu barnanna Personal Pronouns 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 Weak Inflection 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 InflectionInfinitive 1. kalla 2. selja 3. døma 4. rógva Singular Present Past Present Past Present Past Present Past1st pers. kalli kallaði selji seldi dømi dømdi rógvi róði2nd pers. kallar kallaði selur seldi dømir dømdi rørt róði3rd pers. kallar kallaði selur seldi dømir dømdi rør róði Plural Present Past Present Past Present Past Present Past1st, 2nd, 3rd pers. kalla kallaðu selja seldu døma dømdu rógva róðuSupinekallaðseltdømtróð Strong Inflection 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 InflectionInfinitive 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 Past1st pers. bíti beit bróti breyt svimji svam komi kom liggi lá fari fór fái fekk2nd pers. bítur beitst brýtur breytst svimur svamst kemur komst liggur lást fert fórt fært fekst3rd 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 Past1st, 2nd, 3rd pers. bíta bitu bróta brutu svimja svumu koma komu liggja lógu fara fóru fáa finguSupine bitiðbrotiðsvomiðkomiðligiðfariðfingið Auxiliary verbs 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 verbsInfinitive 1. vera 2. hava 3. verða 4. blíva Singular Present Past Present Past Present Past Present Past1st pers. eri var havi hevði verði varð blívi bleiv2nd pers. ert vart hevur hevði verður varðst blívur bleivst3rd pers. er var hevur hevði verður varð blívur bleiv Plural Present Past Present Past Present Past Present Past1st, 2nd, 3rd pers. eru vóru hava høvdu verða vórðu blíva blivuSupine verið havt verðið blivið Note, that vera and verða are homonyms. Preterite-present verbs 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 verbsInfinitive 1. kunna 2. munna 3. mega 4. skula 5. vita 6. vilja Singular Present Past Present Past Present Past Present Past Present Past Present Past1st pers. kann kundi man mundi má mátti skal skuldi veit visti vil vildi2nd pers. kanst kundi manst mundi mást mátti skalt skuldi veitst visti vilt vildi3rd 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 Past1st, 2nd, 3rd pers. kunnu/kunna kundu munnu/munna mundu mugu/mega máttu skulu/skula skuldu vita vistu vilja vilduSupinekunnaðmunnaðmegaðskulaðvitaðviljað Adjectives Most adjectives inflect for gender, number, case and definitiveness, and for positive, comparative and superlative. Adverbs Many adverbs inflect in positive, comparative and superlative. External links Faroese online syntactic analyser and morphological analyser/generator