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.

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.

Singular
*1st person: "eg" IPA| [eː] - I, "meg" IPA| [meː] - me ("acc."), "mær" IPA| [mɛaɹ] - me ("dat."), "mín" IPA| [mʊin] - my
*2nd person: "tú" IPA| [tʉu] - you, "teg" IPA| [teː] - you ("acc."), "tær" IPA| [tɛaɹ] - you ("dat."), "tín" IPA| [tʊin] - your ("gen.")
*3rd person masculine: "hann" IPA| [hanː] - he, him ("nom., acc."), "honum" IPA| [ˈhoːnʊn] - him ("dat."), "hansara" IPA| [ˈhansaɹa] - his ("gen.")
*3rd person feminine: "hon" IPA| [hoːn] - she, "hana" IPA| [ˈhɛana] - her ("acc."), "henni" IPA| [hɛnːɪ] - her ("dat."), "hennara" IPA| [ˈhɛnːaɹa] - her ("gen.")
*3rd person neuter: "tað" IPA| [tɛa] - it ("nom., acc."), "tí" IPA| [tʊi] - it ("dat."), "tess" IPA| [tɛsː] - its ("gen.")Plural
*1st person: "vit" IPA| [viːt] - we, "okkum" IPA| [ɔʰkːʊn] - us ("acc., dat."), "okkara" IPA| [ˈɔʰkːaɹa] - our ("gen.")
*2nd person: "tit" IPA| [tiːt] - you ("pl."), "tykkum" IPA| [ˈtɪʰkːʊn] - you ("acc., dat. pl.") "tykkara" IPA| [ˈtɪʰkːaɹa] - your ("gen. pl.")
*3rd person masculine: "teir" IPA| [taiɹ] IPA|/ [tɔiɹ] - they, them ("m. nom., acc."), "teimum" IPA| [ˈtaimʊn] IPA|/ [ˈtɔimʊn] - them ("dat."), "teirra" IPA| [ˈtaiɹːa] IPA|/ [ˈtɔiɹːa] - their ("gen.")
*3rd person feminine: "tær" IPA| [tɛaɹ] - they, them ("f. nom., acc.")
*3rd person neuter: "tey" IPA| [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" IPA| [eː ɹɛgvɪ] , I row; vs. "eg róði" IPA| [eː ɹɔuwɪ] , I rowed.

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

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.