When tracking a lost weather balloon in the atmosphere, things rarely stay in one place. Unlike static adverbs that describe where something currently is (like einhvers staðar), Icelandic uses specific directional adverbs to describe motion to or from an unknown location.
| The weather balloon flies high up into the atmosphere. | Veðurblaðran flýgur hátt upp í lofthjúpinn. |
From Somewhere
When a signal or a weather current originates from an unknown place, use einhvaðan ("from somewhere"). This adverb specifically indicates movement or origin directed away from an unspecified source and toward the point of reference.
| The transmitter is getting a signal from somewhere. | Sendirinn er að fá merki einhvaðan. |
| A strong current comes from somewhere above. | Sterkur straumur kemur einhvaðan að ofan. |
To Somewhere
When an object is blown away or moves toward an unknown destination, use eitthvert ("to somewhere"). This indicates motion away from the current location and toward a new, unspecified target.
| The weather balloon blew somewhere so that we lost the signal. | Veðurblaðran fauk eitthvert þannig að við misstum merkið. |
| The device can blow somewhere out into the dark. | Tækið getur fokið eitthvert út í myrkrið. |
Coming and Going
Because these words explicitly contain the concept of motion, you will frequently see them paired with action verbs like koma (to come), fara (to go), or fjúka (to be blown). They can be easily contrasted in the same sentence to describe an object passing through.
| The weather balloon comes from somewhere and blows somewhere up into the atmosphere. | Veðurblaðran kemur einhvaðan og fýkur eitthvert upp í lofthjúpinn. |