Questions & Answers about Hún vill hafa sitt eigið borð þegar hún vinnur heima.
Why is it sitt and not hennar?
Sitt is the reflexive possessive form, used when the owner is the subject of the same clause.
Here, the subject is hún = she, and the table/desk belongs to that same person, so Icelandic uses sitt.
- Hún vill hafa sitt eigið borð = she wants to have her own desk/table
- If you used hennar, it would usually mean another woman’s, not the subject’s own
This is one of the most important differences from English, because English uses her for both meanings, but Icelandic often separates them.
Why does Icelandic use both sitt and eigið? Don’t they both mean something like own?
Yes, together they make the idea stronger and more natural: her own.
- sitt = her own / one’s own, in a reflexive possessive sense
- eigið = own
So sitt eigið borð is a very natural way to say her own desk/table.
You may also hear simpler expressions in other contexts, but this double structure is common when Icelandic wants to emphasize personal ownership.
Why do we get the forms sitt and eigið specifically?
Because both words must agree with borð.
Borð is:
- singular
- neuter
- here used as the direct object
So the words modifying it also appear in neuter singular form:
- sinn → sitt for neuter singular
- eiginn → eigið for neuter singular
If the noun were feminine or masculine, the forms would change.
What case is borð in here?
It is in the accusative, because it is the direct object of hafa = to have.
She wants to have what? → sitt eigið borð
However, borð is a neuter noun whose nominative and accusative singular forms are identical, so the word itself does not visibly change. The modifiers still match it in the correct form.
Why is there no að before hafa?
Because after vilja = to want, Icelandic normally uses a bare infinitive.
So:
- hún vill hafa = she wants to have
not
- hún vill að hafa
This is similar to English want to have, except Icelandic does not insert the infinitive marker að here.
What form is vill?
Vill is the 3rd person singular present tense of vilja = to want.
So:
- ég vil = I want
- þú vilt = you want
- hún vill = she wants
So Hún vill... simply means She wants...
What does vinnur mean here?
Vinnur is the 3rd person singular present tense of vinna = to work.
So:
- hún vinnur = she works / she is working
In the sentence þegar hún vinnur heima, it means when she works at home / when she works from home.
Like present tense in many languages, Icelandic present can cover both a general meaning and an ongoing meaning depending on context.
What does heima mean, and how is it different from heim?
Heima means at home — location.
So:
- hún vinnur heima = she works at home
By contrast, heim means homeward / to home — direction.
Compare:
- Hún er heima = she is at home
- Hún fer heim = she goes home
This is a very common Icelandic distinction.
Why is the word order þegar hún vinnur heima and not something like þegar vinnur hún heima?
Because þegar introduces a subordinate clause, and subordinate clauses do not use the normal main-clause verb-second pattern in the same way.
So after þegar, the usual order is:
- þegar + subject + verb
- þegar hún vinnur heima = when she works at home
That is why hún comes before vinnur here.
Can I put the þegar clause first?
Yes. You can say:
Þegar hún vinnur heima vill hún hafa sitt eigið borð.
That is perfectly natural.
But notice what happens in the main clause:
- when the subordinate clause comes first, the finite verb of the main clause comes next
- so you get vill hún, not hún vill
This is the normal Icelandic verb-second pattern in main clauses.
Does borð mean table or desk here?
Literally, borð often means table, but in context it can also be understood as a desk or personal work table.
Because the sentence is about working at home, English may translate it as desk if that sounds more natural. If you wanted to be very specific about a writing desk, Icelandic also has skrifborð.
So in this sentence, borð is best understood from context rather than treated as only one exact English word.
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