Breakdown of Er kennarinn vonsvikinn með frammistöðuna?
vera
to be
kennarinn
the teacher
með
with
vonsvikinn
disappointed
frammistaðan
the performance
Questions & Answers about Er kennarinn vonsvikinn með frammistöðuna?
Why does the preposition með trigger the accusative case here instead of the dative?
The adjective vonsvikinn (disappointed) is fixed with the preposition með, and in this specific combination, með always takes the accusative case. That is why we see the accusative definite form frammistöðuna.
What is the literal meaning behind the adjective vonsvikinn?
It literally translates to "hope-betrayed." It is built from the noun von (hope) and the past participle svikinn (betrayed, deceived, or cheated). It is a very literal way to describe disappointment!
Why does the adjective end in -inn here?
Adjectives in Icelandic must match the gender, number, and case of the noun they describe. Because kennarinn (the teacher) is a grammatically masculine noun in the nominative case, the adjective takes the masculine nominative singular form vonsvikinn. If the subject were feminine, like stúlkan (the girl), it would be vonsvikin.
How does the word frammistöðuna break down?
The dictionary form (nominative indefinite) is frammistaða, meaning "performance." Because the preposition með forces it into the accusative case, the core word becomes frammistöðu. Finally, adding the feminine accusative definite article -na gives us frammistöðuna (the performance).
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