Breakdown of Ég hringi á sjúkrabíl.
ég
I
sjúkrabíllinn
the ambulance
hringja á
to call (emergency services)
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Icelandic grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Ég hringi á sjúkrabíl.
Why do we need the preposition á here? Can't I just say 'Ég hringi sjúkrabíl'?
In Icelandic, the verb hringja (to call) cannot take a direct object like it does in English. When calling for a vehicle, service, or emergency, you use the phrase hringja á. If you were calling a friend on the phone, you would use hringja í instead.
Why does sjúkrabíl only have one 'l' at the end?
The dictionary form of the word is sjúkrabíll with a double 'l'. However, the preposition á forces the noun into the accusative case here. For masculine nouns ending in '-ll', the second 'l' is a nominative ending that drops away in the accusative case, leaving sjúkrabíl.
How does the verb hringi change if someone else is calling?
The base verb is hringja. Ég hringi means 'I call', but if you want to say 'you call' or 'she calls', the ending changes to an 'r', making it þú hringir or hún hringir.
What are the parts of the compound word sjúkrabíll?
It is made from sjúkra-, a prefix related to sickness or medical care (connected to sjúkur, meaning sick), and bíll, meaning car. So an ambulance in Icelandic is literally a 'medical car'.