Breakdown of Við sjáum rafvirkjann sjálfan á morgun.
við
we
sjá
to see
á morgun
tomorrow
sjálfur
self, oneself
rafvirkinn
the electrician
Questions & Answers about Við sjáum rafvirkjann sjálfan á morgun.
Why is it sjálfan here instead of the dictionary form sjálfur?
It emphasizes the object of the sentence, rafvirkjann (the electrician). Because the verb sjáum (we see) requires its object to be in the accusative case, sjálfur must change to match the masculine, singular, accusative form, which is sjálfan.
The base word for electrician is rafvirki. How does it become rafvirkjann here?
Rafvirki is a weak masculine noun. In the accusative case, the ending changes from -i to -ja, making it rafvirkja. Then, the masculine accusative definite article (-nn) is added to the end to mean 'the' electrician, resulting in rafvirkjann.
Does the word for 'himself' always have to come right after the noun it emphasizes?
Yes, in standard everyday phrasing, an intensifying pronoun like sjálfan directly follows the noun it highlights. Placing it before the noun is grammatically possible but changes the tone, making it sound very dramatic, like saying 'the very electrician'.
A quick refresher: why do we use á morgun to mean tomorrow, rather than morning?
The phrase á morgun is a fixed idiom in Icelandic that always means 'tomorrow'. If you wanted to talk about something happening 'in the morning' today, you would use a different preposition and say í morgun.
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