Breakdown of Feluleikur er uppáhalds leikurinn hennar, og barnið vill alltaf fela bangsann líka.
vera
to be
vilja
to want
líka
too
barnið
the child
Questions & Answers about Feluleikur er uppáhalds leikurinn hennar, og barnið vill alltaf fela bangsann líka.
Why are feluleikur and leikurinn both in the nominative in Feluleikur er uppáhalds leikurinn hennar?
Because er is a linking verb (to be), not an action verb taking a direct object.
In Icelandic, when two nouns are linked by vera and one identifies the other, both are normally in the nominative:
- Feluleikur = nominative
- leikurinn = nominative
So the structure is basically:
- Feluleikur = hide-and-seek
- er = is
- uppáhalds leikurinn hennar = her favorite game
It is not “Hide-and-seek does her favorite game” or anything like that, so there is no accusative object here.
What does feluleikur mean, and is it a compound word?
Yes. Feluleikur is a compound noun meaning hide-and-seek.
It is built from:
- fela = to hide
- leikur = game
So literally it is something like hiding-game.
Compounds are extremely common in Icelandic, so seeing a whole idea packed into one word is very normal.
What exactly is uppáhalds here?