Breakdown of Við fögnum starfslokum hans á morgun.
við
we
á morgun
tomorrow
hans
his
fagna
to celebrate
starfslokin
the retirement (end of employment)
Questions & Answers about Við fögnum starfslokum hans á morgun.
The lesson is about using the subjunctive to say "let's do something." Could this sentence mean "Let's celebrate his retirement tomorrow"?
Yes, it absolutely could! For the pronoun við (we), the present subjunctive form of the verb fagna is fögnum, which is completely identical to the normal present tense form. Depending on the context, this exact same sentence can mean "We are celebrating..." or "Let's celebrate...".
Why does the word for retirement, starfslokum, end in -um here?
The verb fagna (to celebrate or welcome) requires its object to be in the dative case. The base word is starfslok, which is a neuter plural noun, so it takes the plural dative ending -um to become starfslokum.
How does the word starfslok break down to mean "retirement"?
It is a compound of starf (work or job) and lok (end or conclusion). In Icelandic, the word for "end" is often used in the plural form when referring to the conclusion of an event or period, so it literally translates to "work-ends."
Why is it starfslokum hans instead of hans starfslokum?
In Icelandic, possessive pronouns like hans (his) almost always come right after the noun they belong to. Putting the possessive first is understood but sounds very unnatural or overly poetic in everyday speech.
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