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Questions & Answers about Hún velur frekar salat en brauð.
What does the adverb frekar add here? Is it required?
Frekar means “rather / preferably.” The pattern frekar X en Y expresses “X rather than Y.” Without frekar, en would normally be read as “but,” not “than,” so you need frekar (or another comparative word) to get the “rather than” meaning.
What exactly does en mean in this sentence?
Here en means “than” because it follows the comparative adverb frekar. In other contexts, en can mean “but”: e.g., Ég borða salat en ekki brauð = “I eat salad but not bread.”
What cases are salat and brauð in?
They are (understood as) accusative objects of velur (“choose”), which takes the accusative case. These nouns are neuter and look the same in nominative and accusative singular, so you don’t see a form change. With nouns that show case clearly you would see it:
• Hún velur frekar kjúkling en fisk. (accusative: kjúkling, fisk)
Why is frekar after the verb? Could it go elsewhere?