Question 1

Why is Bollakakan written as one word?

Accepted Answer

Because Icelandic usually adds the definite article to the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like the. So bollakaka is the basic noun, and bollakakan means the bollakaka. Long compound-looking words are also very normal in Icelandic.

Question 2

Why do var and borðaði both refer to the past, even though they look so different?

Accepted Answer

They are both past tense forms, but from different kinds of verbs. var is from vera = to be, and it is irregular. borðaði is from borða = to eat, and it follows a regular weak-verb pattern with the past ending -aði. So the difference is mainly regular versus irregular conjugation.

Question 3

How do I know that bollakaka is feminine?

Accepted Answer

You mainly learn a noun’s gender as part of the word, but there are clues here. bollakaka is a feminine noun, and the agreement in sæt and hálfa shows that. Also, many Icelandic nouns ending in -a are feminine, although that is not a perfect rule, so it is best to memorize gender with each noun.

Question 4

Why is the adjective sæt and not sætur or sætt?

Accepted Answer

Adjectives in Icelandic agree with the noun they describe in gender, number, and case. Here the adjective describes bollakakan, which is feminine singular. Because it comes after var and describes the subject, it is in the nominative. The nominative singular forms are sætur for masculine, sæt for feminine, and sætt for neuter. So sæt is the correct form here.

Question 5

Why is it hálfa and not hálf?

Accepted Answer

Because hálfa is functioning as the direct object of borðaði, so it is in the accusative. It also refers to a feminine singular noun, namely the understood bollakaka. With hálfur, the feminine nominative form is hálf, but the feminine accusative form is hálfa. So hálfa tells you that the understood noun is feminine and is being eaten, not acting as the subject.

Question 6

Can hálfa stand by itself without repeating the noun?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Icelandic often leaves out a repeated noun when it is already clear from context. Here hálfa stands for something like hálfa bollakökuna, or more naturally in English, half of it. This is a very normal pattern.

Question 7

What does bara mean here, and why is it placed before hálfa?

Accepted Answer

Here bara means only or just. It limits the amount that was eaten, so bara hálfa means only half. Putting bara right before hálfa makes that focus very clear and sounds natural.

Question 8

What cases are being used in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

Bollakakan is in the nominative because it is the subject of the first clause. sæt is also nominative because it is a predicate adjective describing that subject after var. In the second clause, ég is nominative as the subject, and hálfa is accusative as the direct object of borðaði.

Question 9

How would the second clause look if I repeated the noun instead of leaving it understood?

Accepted Answer

You could say en ég borðaði bara hálfa bollakökuna. That is the fuller version, where the noun is stated explicitly instead of being left implied.

Question 10

Is the word order anything special here, especially after en?

Accepted Answer

This is normal Icelandic word order. The sentence has two main clauses joined by en. Icelandic is a verb-second language, but when the subject comes first, the order looks very familiar to an English speaker: Bollakakan var ... and ég borðaði .... If another element were moved to the front, the verb would still stay in second position.

Bollakakan var sæt, en ég borðaði bara hálfa.

Breakdown of Bollakakan var sæt, en ég borðaði bara hálfa.

Questions & Answers about Bollakakan var sæt, en ég borðaði bara hálfa.

Master Icelandic — from Bollakakan var sæt, en ég borðaði bara hálfa to fluency