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 grammatical genders and four cases: nominative, accusative, dative and genitive.

Contents 1 Noun inflection 1.1 Personal Pronouns 2 Verbs 2.1 Weak Inflection 2.2 Strong Inflection 2.3 Auxiliary verbs 2.4 Preterite-present verbs 3 Adjectives 4 Adverbs 5 External links

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 (and possession is mostly expressed with various prepositional phrases instead).

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 (although Icelandic does not generally need a pre-posed definite article in this construction).

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

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.:

1. stem-final -a, 2-3.pers.sg. -r - kalla! (imperative), tú/hann kalla-r (you/he call(s))
2. 2-3.pers.sg. -ur - tú/hann selur (you/he sell(s))
3. 2-3.pers.sg. -ir - tú/hann dømir (you/he judge(s))
4. 2. pers.sg. -rt - tú rørt (you row). In certain surroundings, skerping occurs: 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

These verbs are also referred to as regular. There are 7 classes (with underclasses), distinguished by the variations of the stem-vowel:

1. í - í - ei - i- i; - at bíta - hann bítur - hann beit - teir bitu - teir hava bitið (bite)
2. ó/ú - ý - ey - u- o; - at bróta - hann býtur - hann breyt - teir brutu - teir hava brotið (break)
3. e/i/ø - i - a - u- o/u; - at svimja - hann svimur - hann svam - teir svumu - teir hava svomið (swim)
4. 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)
5. e/i - e/i - a/á - ó - i; - at liggja - hann liggur - hann lá - teir lógu - teir hava ligið (lie)
6. a - e - ó - ó - a; - at fara - hann fer - hann fór - teir fóru - teir hava farið (go)
7. 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

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

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

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