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Faroese grammar

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Faroese grammar is typical of a North Germanic language; Faroese is an inflected language with three grammatical genders and four cases: nominative, accusative, dative and genitive.

Noun inflection

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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:

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

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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

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Weak Inflection

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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

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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 brýtur – 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

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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

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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

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Most adjectives inflect for gender, number, case and definitiveness, and for positive, comparative and superlative.

Adverbs

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Many adverbs inflect in positive, comparative and superlative.

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