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Breakdown of Sjónvarpið er hátt á veggnum.
vera
to be
á
on
hár
high
sjónvarpið
the television
veggurinn
the wall
Questions & Answers about Sjónvarpið er hátt á veggnum.
Why does Sjónvarpið end with -ið?
In Icelandic the definite article is a suffix. Sjónvarp is a neuter noun, so -ið marks the neuter singular definite form (“the television”).
Why is á veggnum in the dative case?
The preposition á takes the dative when expressing a static location (“on the wall”). If you express movement onto the wall, you use the accusative form: á vegginn.
Why is “high” written as hátt?
The base adjective is hár (“high, tall”). In the neuter nominative singular it becomes hátt to agree with the neuter noun sjónvarp.
How can you tell that hátt is an adjective here and not an adverb?
Here hátt agrees in gender, number and case (neuter nominative) with Sjónvarpið, so it’s a predicate adjective. As an adverb it would be uninflected and modify a verb, e.g. tala hátt (“speak loudly”).
What is the Icelandic sentence for the English phrase They hung the TV on the wall?
Hengdu sjónvarpið á vegginn.
Could you drop the verb er and just say Sjónvarpið hátt á veggnum?
No. In Icelandic predicative constructions you need the verb er (“is”) to link the subject to its attribute or location.
How is sj in Sjónvarpið pronounced?
The letter combination sj is pronounced [ɕ], a voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative, similar to the “sh” in the Polish ś.
What does each word in Sjónvarpið er hátt á veggnum mean literally?
• Sjónvarpið = “the television”
• er = “is”
• hátt = “high”
• á = “on”
• veggnum = “the wall” (dative)
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