Breakdown of Hann er fjarverandi vegna veikindanna.
vera
to be
hann
he
vegna
because of
fjarverandi
absent
veikindin
the illness
Questions & Answers about Hann er fjarverandi vegna veikindanna.
This lesson is about þar sem and fyrst. Why are we using vegna here instead?
Vegna is a preposition meaning 'because of' or 'due to,' which is followed by a noun phrase (veikindanna). Conjunctions like þar sem and fyrst (since/as) must be followed by a full clause with a subject and verb. To use þar sem, you would rewrite the sentence as: Hann er fjarverandi þar sem hann er veikur (He is absent since he is sick).
Why does veikindi end with -anna in this sentence?
The preposition vegna always forces the following noun into the genitive case. Veikindi is a neuter plural noun. When you add the definite article ('the') in the genitive plural, the ending is -anna, resulting in veikindanna.
Wait, is veikindi plural? The English translation just says 'illness' in the singular.
Yes, the Icelandic noun veikindi (illness or sickness) is almost exclusively used in the plural form, even when referring to a single period of sickness.
What kind of word is fjarverandi? It looks like a verb but acts like an adjective.
It is a present participle, which often acts as an adjective in Icelandic. The -andi ending is equivalent to the English '-ing'. It combines fjar- (far or absent) and verandi (being, from the verb vera), so it literally means 'being far' or 'absent'.
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