Hún selur bækur á markaðnum um helgar.

she

Breakdown of Hún selur bækur á markaðnum um helgar.

• bókin: the book
• á: at
• um: on

Questions & Answers about Hún selur bækur á markaðnum um helgar.

Why is it bækur and not bók?

Because the verb selja takes an accusative direct object, and here we mean “books” (plural). Bækur is the nominative/accusative plural of bók “book.”

• Singular: bók (nom/acc/dat), bókar (gen)
• Plural: bækur (nom/acc), bókum (dat), bóka (gen) If you wanted “the books,” you’d say bækurnar (accusative plural definite). “Some books” can be nokkrar bækur.

What cases are used in the sentence, and why?

• Hún is nominative (subject).
• bækur is accusative (direct object of selur).
• á markaðnum is dative because á takes the dative for location (“at/on” a place).
• um helgar is accusative plural because um takes the accusative in time expressions (“during/on” weekends).

Why is it á markaðnum and not á markaðinn?

Use á + dative for location (being at/on a place) and á + accusative for direction (movement to/onto a place).

• Location: Hún selur bækur á markaðnum. (She sells books at the market.)
• Direction: Hún fer á markaðinn. (She goes to the market.) Indefinite “at a market” would be á markaði (dative, no article).

Where is the definite article “the”? Why no article before bækur?