Breakdown of Hver strákur hefur verk.
strákurinn
the boy
hafa
to have
hver
each / every
verkið
the task / the work (creative work)
Questions & Answers about Hver strákur hefur verk.
Why is it hver here and not another form like hvert?
The word hver must agree with the noun it modifies. Since strákur is a masculine noun and is the subject of the sentence (nominative case), you use the nominative masculine singular form, which is hver. If the noun were neuter, like barn, you would use hvert.
I thought hver was a question word meaning 'who'. How can I tell it means 'each' in this sentence?
You can tell by looking at what follows it. When hver stands alone at the start of a question, it means 'who'. But when it sits directly in front of a singular noun, like in hver strákur, it acts as an indefinite pronoun meaning 'each' or 'every'.
Why is the verb hefur in the singular when we are talking about multiple boys?
Because hver strákur literally translates to 'each boy', which is grammatically singular. Just like in English, we say 'each boy has' rather than 'each boy have'. If you wanted to use the plural, you would say allir strákar hafa (all boys have).
Is the word verk in the nominative or accusative case here?
It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object receiving the action of the verb hafa (to have). Because verk is a neuter noun, its accusative singular form looks exactly the same as its nominative singular form.
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