Question 1

Does the phrase bæði... og change the grammatical case of the nouns that follow it?

Accepted Answer

No, correlative conjunctions like bæði... og just link words together without affecting their case. The case is still controlled by the verb. Here, the verb staðfesta (to confirm) requires an object in the accusative case, so both gistinguna and ferðaáætlunina must take their accusative forms.

Question 2

How is the long word ferðaáætlunina put together?

Accepted Answer

It is a compound word for 'travel itinerary'. It is made of ferða (the plural genitive of ferð, meaning 'of travels') and áætlun (plan or schedule). The -ina at the very end is the attached definite article, making it 'the travel itinerary' in the accusative case.

Question 3

Why do the definite articles on these two feminine nouns look slightly different (gistinguna vs. ferðaáætlunina)?

Accepted Answer

It depends on how the base noun behaves in the accusative case. The noun gisting becomes gistingu in the accusative, so adding the definite article -na makes it gistinguna. The noun áætlun doesn't change in the accusative, so we add the standard suffix -ina to get áætlunina.

Question 4

Could I just say Ég staðfesti here instead of Ég var að staðfesta?

Accepted Answer

You could, but it changes the nuance. Ég staðfesti is the simple past ('I confirmed'), treating the action as a finished event. Ég var að staðfesta uses the continuous form (vera að + infinitive) to mean 'I was confirming', which puts emphasis on the fact that you were right in the middle of doing it.

Ég var að staðfesta bæði gistinguna og ferðaáætlunina.

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