Word
Vinkonan hennar hjálpar henni þegar henni leiðist og hún er einmana.
Meaning
Her (female) friend helps her when she is bored and she is lonely.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Vinkonan hennar hjálpar henni þegar henni leiðist og hún er einmana.
vera
to be
hún
she
þegar
when
og
and
Questions & Answers about Vinkonan hennar hjálpar henni þegar henni leiðist og hún er einmana.
What does vinkonan hennar literally mean, and why does vinkonan have that -an ending?
Vinkonan hennar literally means “the friend of hers” or more naturally “her friend.”
- vin-kona = female friend (base form, nominative singular: vinkona)
- vinkon-an = the female friend (-an is the definite ending for feminine nouns in nominative singular)
- hennar = her (genitive of hún, used for possession)
So:
- vinkonan = the (female) friend
- vinkonan hennar = her (female) friend / the friend of hers
Icelandic often uses the definite form (vinkonan) plus a possessive (hennar) to refer to a specific, known person: “her (particular) friend.”
Why is it hennar and not some other form of “she”? How does that compare to English?