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Questions & Answers about Nemandinn vinnur í skóla.
What does nemandinn mean, and why is the definite article attached as a suffix?
Nemandinn translates as "the student." In Icelandic, rather than using a separate word for the definite article, the article is added as a suffix (in this case, -inn) to the noun. This is a typical feature of Icelandic grammar.
What does vinnur mean, and how is it conjugated in this sentence?
Vinnur is the third person singular present tense form of the verb vinna, which means "to work." The form matches the subject (nemandinn) in both number and person, making the sentence grammatically correct.
Why is the prepositional phrase í skóla used instead of a form like í skólinn?
The preposition í means "in" and requires the noun that follows to be in a particular case. In this context, í skóla uses the dative (or a case form required by the preposition for indicating location) of the noun skóli. This explains why the definite form (which would be skólinn) is not used here.
What case is shown in í skóla, and how does that affect the noun form?
In this sentence, í indicates location, so the noun after it is in a case that marks a static location—typically the dative. For the noun skóli, the dative singular form is skóla. This change in form following the preposition is a common feature in Icelandic grammar.
How does the word order in Nemandinn vinnur í skóla compare to English sentence structure?
The sentence follows a Subject-Verb-Prepositional Phrase order, much like English. Here, nemandinn (the subject) comes first, followed by vinnur (the verb), and finally í skóla (the prepositional phrase indicating location). However, Icelandic also marks definiteness and case through suffixes on the nouns, which differs from English.