Breakdown of Guðinn í sögunni er sterkur.
vera
to be
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
sagan
the story
sterkur
strong / spicy, hot (of food)
guðinn
the god
Questions & Answers about Guðinn í sögunni er sterkur.
Why is it Guðinn and not just guð?
Guðinn means the god. In Icelandic, the definite article (the word for the) is attached to the end of the noun. Here, the masculine noun guð gets the ending -inn.
Why does the word for story change to sögunni here?
The dictionary form is saga. The preposition í (in) requires the dative case when describing a stationary location or state. The dative form of saga is sögu. To say the story, we add the feminine dative article -nni, giving us sögunni.
Why does the first vowel in saga change to an ö in sögunni?
This happens because of a common vowel change called U-shift. When a word gets an ending with a u, an a in the root of the word often changes to an ö. Since the dative form is sögu, the a shifts to ö. This spelling remains when the article is added to make sögunni.
Why does the adjective sterkur end in -ur?
Adjectives must match the noun they describe in gender, number, and case. Because Guðinn is a masculine, singular noun in the nominative (subject) case, the adjective for strong takes the standard masculine singular nominative ending -ur.
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