Vináttan gefur mér meira sjálfstraust.

me

Breakdown of Vináttan gefur mér meira sjálfstraust.

• gefa: to give
• meira: more
• vinátta: the friendship

Questions & Answers about Vináttan gefur mér meira sjálfstraust.

What does the ending -an in vináttan mean, and why is it attached to the noun instead of being a separate word like the in English?

In Icelandic, the definite article (the) is usually a suffix attached to the end of the noun, not a separate word.

• vinátta = friendship
• vináttan = the friendship

Here:

• vinátta is a feminine noun ending in -a.
• Its definite form in the nominative singular is made by adding -n, but because the noun already ends in -a, the combined form becomes -an:
  • vinátta → vináttan (the friendship)

So vináttan literally means the friendship as the subject of the sentence.

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Why is vináttan the subject of the sentence, and what is the literal structure with the verb gefa?

The main verb gefur is the 3rd person singular present of gefa = to give.

The basic pattern for gefa is:

• [subject in nominative] + gefa + [indirect object in dative] + [direct object in accusative]

Applied to the sentence:

• Vináttan (nominative, subject)
• gefur (3rd person singular, present)
• mér (dative, indirect object = to me)
• meira sjálfstraust (accusative, direct object = )