Breakdown of Krítin brotnaði, en kennarinn hélt samt áfram að skrifa á töfluna.
skrifa
to write
á
on
en
but
kennarinn
the teacher
Questions & Answers about Krítin brotnaði, en kennarinn hélt samt áfram að skrifa á töfluna.
Why does krítin end in -in?
The -in is the suffixed definite article, so krítin means the chalk.
- krít = chalk
- krítin = the chalk
In Icelandic, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word like English the.
Here, krítin is the subject of the sentence, in the nominative singular.
Why is it brotnaði and not something like braut?
Because brotna and brjóta are different verbs.
- brotna = to break, to get broken (intransitive: the thing itself breaks)
- brjóta = to break something (transitive: someone breaks it)
So:
- Krítin brotnaði = The chalk broke
- Kennarinn braut krítina = The teacher broke the chalk
In this sentence, the chalk is not being shown as directly broken by someone; it simply broke, so brotnaði is the correct form.
What tense is brotnaði?