Breakdown of Börnin læra sanngirni þegar þau deila kökunni og bíða rólega eftir röðinni sinni.
barnið
the child
þegar
when
og
and
læra
to learn
Questions & Answers about Börnin læra sanngirni þegar þau deila kökunni og bíða rólega eftir röðinni sinni.
Why is it Börnin and not just börn?
Börn means children.
Börnin means the children.
Icelandic usually adds the definite article to the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like the. So:
- börn = children
- börnin = the children
That -in ending is the definite article here.
Why is the pronoun þau used for the children?
Because börn is a neuter plural noun in Icelandic, and pronouns normally agree with the noun’s grammatical gender, not natural gender.
So even though the children may be boys, girls, or mixed, the noun börn is grammatically neuter plural, so the pronoun is:
- þau = they (for a neuter plural noun)
This is very common in Icelandic.
Are læra, deila, and bíða infinitives here, or are they finite verbs?