Breakdown of Stigagangurinn er langur, svo íbúarnir ganga hægt niður hann.
vera
to be
ganga
to walk
hægt
slowly
svo
so
Questions & Answers about Stigagangurinn er langur, svo íbúarnir ganga hægt niður hann.
What is stigagangurinn made up of?
It is the noun stigagangur plus the suffixed definite article.
- stigagangur = stairwell / staircase area
- -inn = the
So stigagangurinn means the stairwell. It is masculine singular nominative here because it is the subject of the first clause.
Why is it langur and not langi, even though stigagangurinn is definite?
Because langur is a predicate adjective after er (is).
In Icelandic, adjectives used after verbs like vera usually appear in the strong form, not the weak definite form. So even though the noun is definite, you say:
- Stigagangurinn er langur.
not
- Stigagangurinn er langi.
The adjective still agrees with the noun in gender, number, and case:
- stigagangurinn = masculine singular nominative
- langur = masculine singular nominative
What does svo mean here?