Learn Icelandic: Venjulega gerir fagmaðurinn þetta en núna gerum við þetta sjálfir. - Usually the professional does this, but now we do this ourselves.

Venjulega gerir fagmaðurinn þetta en núna gerum við þetta sjálfir.

Usually the professional does this, but now we do this ourselves.

Breakdown of Venjulega gerir fagmaðurinn þetta en núna gerum við þetta sjálfir.

Questions & Answers about Venjulega gerir fagmaðurinn þetta en núna gerum við þetta sjálfir.

Why is sjálfir in the nominative case here?

It emphasizes the subject of the sentence, við (we). Because við is in the nominative case performing the action, sjálfir must also be in the nominative case to agree with it. If it were emphasizing the object instead, it would need to match the object's case.

Why does sjálfir have the masculine plural ending -ir if "we" could be anyone?

In Icelandic, the masculine plural is used as the default for mixed-gender groups. If the speaker knows that "we" consists entirely of women, they would say sjálfar. If "we" referred to a group of neuter words (like children, börn), it would be sjálf.

Why are the subjects and verbs inverted (gerir fagmaðurinn and gerum við)?

This happens because of the V2 (verb-second) rule. Both clauses start with an adverb (venjulega meaning "usually", and núna meaning "now"). Since the adverb takes the first position, the verb must take the second, pushing the subjects (fagmaðurinn and við) to the third position.

What is the literal breakdown of the word fagmaðurinn?