Breakdown of Gamli maðurinn sagði að vofan gengi um kirkjugarðinn.
gamall
old
maðurinn
the man
ganga
to walk
um
around
að
that (conjunction)
segja
to say
kirkjugarðurinn
the cemetery
vofan
the phantom
Questions & Answers about Gamli maðurinn sagði að vofan gengi um kirkjugarðinn.
Why is the verb gengi used here instead of the regular past tense gekk?
Gengi is the past subjunctive form of ganga (to walk/go). We use the subjunctive here for reported speech (after sagði að...) to show that this is something the old man claimed, rather than an objective fact. It is in the past subjunctive because the main reporting verb (sagði) is in the past tense.
How exactly is gengi formed from ganga?
For strong verbs like ganga, the past subjunctive is built from the plural past tense stem. The past tense is gekk (singular) but gengum (plural). By taking that plural stem (geng-) and adding the third-person singular subjunctive ending (-i), we get gengi.
Why is it Gamli maðurinn instead of the dictionary form Gamall maðurinn?
This is a quick reminder of weak adjectives. Whenever a noun has the attached definite article (the -inn on the end of maðurinn), any adjective before it must use its weak form. For a masculine subject, gamall becomes gamli.
What determines the case of kirkjugarðinn (the cemetery)?
The preposition um controls the case. When um is used to mean physical movement around or across a place, it requires the following noun to be in the accusative case. Kirkjugarður is a masculine word, so its accusative definite form is kirkjugarðinn.
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