Ég bið um vatn.

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Breakdown of Ég bið um vatn.

• vatn: the water
• biðja um: to ask for

Questions & Answers about Ég bið um vatn.

Can you break down each word in Ég bið um vatn?

• Ég = I
• bið = (I) ask (present tense of biðja)
• um = for/about (preposition)
• vatn = water

What is the role of um in this sentence, and which case does it govern?

• um is the preposition used with biðja to mean “ask for.”
• In Icelandic, um always takes the accusative case.
• Here vatn remains unchanged because its nominative and accusative forms are identical for an indefinite neuter noun.

Why does vatn look the same in nominative and accusative?

• vatn is a neuter noun.
• In the singular indefinite form, neuter nouns have identical endings in nominative and accusative.
• To make it definite you’d say vatnið (“the water”).

How do you conjugate the verb biðja in the present tense?

Here’s biðja (“to ask for”) in present tense:
• Ég bið
• Þú biður
• Hann/Hún/Það biður
• Við biðjum
• Þið biðið
• Þeir/Þær/Þau biðja

How is the letter pronounced in ?