Breakdown of Verkaskiptingin sýnir kunnáttuna.
sýna
to show
verkaskiptingin
the division of labor
kunnáttan
the skill
Questions & Answers about Verkaskiptingin sýnir kunnáttuna.
How is the compound word verkaskiptingin formed?
It is made of verk (work/task) and skipting (division). The -a- connecting them is the plural genitive ending of verk, meaning it literally translates to division of tasks. The word takes the feminine definite article -in because the final part of the compound, skipting, is feminine.
Why does kunnáttuna look like it ends in -una?
The base word is kunnátta (skill), which is a weak feminine noun. As the direct object of the sentence, it shifts to the accusative case, changing its final -a to a -u (kunnáttu). To make it definite (the skill), we attach the suffix -na to this declined form, resulting in kunnáttuna.
Both nouns in this sentence are feminine. Why do their definite endings look different?
Verkaskiptingin is the subject (nominative case). Its base noun skipting is a strong feminine noun ending in a consonant, which takes the article -in. Kunnáttuna is the object (accusative case). Its base noun kunnátta is a weak feminine noun that ends in a vowel, so it declines to -u and takes the article -na.
What is the infinitive form of the verb sýnir?
It comes from the infinitive að sýna (to show). It is a highly regular weak verb, taking the standard -ir ending in the present tense for the third person singular (it shows).
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