Breakdown of Ég gleymi stundum matvörulistanum, en hún skrifar nýjan matvörulista strax.
Questions & Answers about Ég gleymi stundum matvörulistanum, en hún skrifar nýjan matvörulista strax.
Because the verb að gleyma (to forget) normally governs the dative in Icelandic.
So you say:
- Ég gleymi matvörulistanum. = I forget the grocery list. (dative)
This is something you mostly just learn as part of each verb’s “case pattern”.
-num marks dative singular definite for a masculine noun like matvörulisti (grocery list).
So matvörulistanum roughly corresponds to the grocery list in a context where dative is required (here, because of gleyma).
Breakdown:
- matvörulisti = grocery list (base form)
- matvörulistinn = the grocery list (nominative definite)
- matvörulistanum = the grocery list (dative definite)
In the first clause, it’s talking about a specific list already known in context: the grocery list → matvörulistanum (definite).
In the second clause, it says she writes a new grocery list, i.e. a different one, not “the same one”:
- nýjan matvörulista = a new grocery list (indefinite)
So the definiteness shift matches the meaning: forget the (existing) list vs write a (new) list.
Because nýjan must agree with matvörulista, which here is:
- masculine
- singular
- accusative (because it’s the direct object of skrifar)
The adjective nýr (new) changes form to match:
- nominative masc sg: nýr
- accusative masc sg: nýjan
- dative masc sg: nýjum
- genitive masc sg: nýs
Here you need accusative masc sg → nýjan.
Different verbs require different cases:
- að skrifa (to write) typically takes a direct object in the accusative:
hún skrifar matvörulista - að gleyma (to forget) takes its object in the dative:
ég gleymi matvörulistanum
So the noun changes case because the governing verb changes.
Both are present tense forms.
- (að) gleyma → ég gleymi = I forget
Present endings vary; here -i is the 1st person singular form. - (að) skrifa → hún skrifar = she writes
-ar is common for 3rd person singular present in many verbs.
The sentence is describing a habitual/general situation: I sometimes forget…, but she writes… right away.
They are often included, but in some contexts they can be omitted, especially in informal speech when the subject is obvious from the verb form.
However, Icelandic does not drop subjects as freely as, for example, Spanish, because some verb forms can be less distinct, and pronouns help clarity. In a standalone sentence like this, keeping Ég and hún is very natural.
In main clauses, Icelandic generally follows a verb-second (V2) pattern: the finite verb tends to come early, and many adverbs like stundum commonly appear after the finite verb:
- Ég gleymi stundum ... (very natural)
You can front stundum for emphasis, but then the verb still wants to be “second”:
- Stundum gleymi ég matvörulistanum. = Sometimes I forget the grocery list.
Ég stundum gleymi ... is much less standard/natural as a neutral sentence.
en means but and sets up a contrast between the two clauses:
- I sometimes forget the list, but she writes a new one right away.
og means and and would simply add information without the same contrast. Using en signals that the second clause counters or balances the first.
strax (right away/immediately) is fairly flexible, but it most commonly appears toward the end of the clause:
- ... hún skrifar nýjan matvörulista strax. (neutral/natural)
Other placements are possible, often to emphasize immediacy:
- ... hún skrifar strax nýjan matvörulista. (emphasizes immediately, then what she writes)
Both are understandable; the original ending-position strax is a very common default.