Ég hoppa ekki eins hátt og hún, því trampólínið er blautt eftir rigninguna.

I do not jump as high as she does, because the trampoline is wet after the rain.

Breakdown of Ég hoppa ekki eins hátt og hún, því trampólínið er blautt eftir rigninguna.

• ég: I
• vera: to be
• ekki: not
• hún: she

Questions & Answers about Ég hoppa ekki eins hátt og hún, því trampólínið er blautt eftir rigninguna.

Why is hoppa used after ég? Isn’t that the infinitive?

Yes, að hoppa is the infinitive, but the 1st person singular present tense is also hoppa.

So the pattern is:

• að hoppa = to jump
• ég hoppa = I jump
• þú hoppar = you jump
• hún hoppar = she jumps

This is very common with Icelandic weak verbs. So Ég hoppa ekki... is completely normal and means I do not jump...

How does eins hátt og work? Why is it og and not en?

Eins ... og is the standard pattern for an equal comparison, meaning as ... as.

So:

• eins hátt og hún = as high as she does

Icelandic uses:

• eins + adjective/adverb + og = as ... as
• comparative + en = more/less ... than

For example:

• eins hátt og hún = as high as she does
• hærra en hún = higher than she is / than she does

So og is correct here because this is an as ... as comparison, not a more ... than comparison.

Why is it hátt and not ?