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.
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). For most native speakers, the Genitive is a learned and somewhat stilted form as opposed to the other cases which are learned naturally in regular colloquial situations.
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.:
- 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). 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:
- 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 brýtur - 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
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.