Annars vegar er veitingastaðurinn opinn, hins vegar viljum við frekar borða heima.

to be

Breakdown of Annars vegar er veitingastaðurinn opinn, hins vegar viljum við frekar borða heima.

• borða: to eat
• við: we
• heima: at home

Questions & Answers about Annars vegar er veitingastaðurinn opinn, hins vegar viljum við frekar borða heima.

What do annars vegar and hins vegar literally mean, and how are they used together?

They form a fixed pairing meaning “on the one hand … on the other hand …”.

• annars = “of the other” / “otherwise” (genitive of annar “other”)
• hins = “of the (other)” (genitive of hinn “the other” / “that”)
• veg(ar) = “way/side” (in this idiom it’s essentially “side”)

So annars vegar … hins vegar … is an idiomatic two-part contrast structure. You typically put one clause after annars vegar and the contrasting clause after hins vegar.

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Why is it veg(ar) and not vegi or vegur here?

Because this is an idiom: -s vegar is a set genitive phrase meaning “on the … side”.

• vegur is the basic form (nominative singular).
• vegar is genitive singular.

In annars vegar / hins vegar, the genitive is part of a frozen expression, so you learn it as a chunk rather than trying to “build” it productively each time.

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Why is the word order Annars vegar er veitingastaðurinn opinn instead of Veitingastaðurinn er opinn?