Breakdown of Hún snýr bílnum hjá skólanum.
hún
she
skólinn
the school
hjá
next to / at (someone's) place, with
snúa
to turn (+ Dative)
Questions & Answers about Hún snýr bílnum hjá skólanum.
Why is the car bílnum (dative) here instead of bílinn (accusative)?
The verb snúa (to turn) is one of the Icelandic verbs that require their object to be in the dative case instead of the usual accusative. So, the definite masculine noun bíllinn (the car) changes to bílnum.
What is the infinitive (dictionary form) of snýr?
The infinitive is snúa (to turn). It looks different because it undergoes a vowel shift in the present tense, changing the ú to a ý for singular forms like hún snýr.
Why does skólanum end in -num?
The preposition hjá (by/next to) always forces the noun that follows it into the dative case. Skóli is a masculine noun, and its dative definite form (meaning the school) takes the ending -num, becoming skólanum.
Does hjá always just mean physical location?
In this sentence it means physically turning the car by or next to the school, but hjá is also very commonly used to mean at the home of someone, similar to saying at my friend's house.
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