The Partitive Genitive
When you want to express "some of", "many of", or "most of" a specific group, formal and written Icelandic uses a structure called the partitive genitive.
Instead of using a preposition like "of" to split a group, you place a quantifier (such as "most" or "some") directly before the group you are describing. The group itself is then placed in the definite genitive plural.
| Most of the core samples store important information. | Flestir borkjarnanna geyma mikilvægar upplýsingar. |
| Some of the geological layers are very thick. | Sum jarðlaganna eru mjög þykk. |
Declining the Quantifier
In this structure, the quantifier acts as the head of the phrase. It must match the gender of the group it refers to, and it declines according to its role in the sentence (such as subject or object).
Meanwhile, the noun describing the group remains firmly anchored in the genitive case, regardless of what grammatical role the quantifier is playing.
Notice how the quantifiers in the examples below change to the accusative case when they become the direct object of a verb, while the groups (steindanna and kristallanna) stay in the genitive plural:
| We use many of the minerals for the comparison. | Við notum margar steindanna fyrir samanburðinn. |
| We were examining many of the crystals under the microscope. | Við vorum að skoða marga kristallanna undir smásjánni. |
Using Different Quantifiers
This grammatical rule applies to a wide variety of quantifiers, allowing you to be precise when cataloging or analyzing groups of items. Common quantifiers used with the partitive genitive include margur (many), nokkur (several), and fár (few).
| Several of the geological layers are made of tephra, since the area is active. | Nokkur jarðlaganna eru úr gjósku, þar sem svæðið er virkt. |
| Few of the hypotheses are correct, since the comparison is complicated. | Fáar tilgátnanna eru réttar, þar sem samanburðurinn er flókinn. |