Learn Icelandic: Hún tekur fram kústinn og fötuna. - She brings out the broom and the bucket.

Hún tekur fram kústinn og fötuna.

She brings out the broom and the bucket.

Breakdown of Hún tekur fram kústinn og fötuna.

forward, out (into the front room)

Questions & Answers about Hún tekur fram kústinn og fötuna.

Why does the particle fram come before kústinn og fötuna instead of at the end of the sentence?

This is the core rule for phrasal verbs with full nouns. When the object is a regular noun (like kústinn), the particle (fram) stays right next to the verb (tekur). If the object were a pronoun like þau (them), the pronoun would jump in between the verb and the particle: Hún tekur þau fram.

What is the literal meaning of the phrasal verb taka fram?

Taka means to take, and fram means forward or forth. Together, it means to fetch something or bring it out of a storage place (like a closet or cupboard) so that it is ready to be used.

Both objects are in the accusative case, but their endings look very different. Why?

They belong to different grammatical genders. Kústur (broom) is masculine, so its accusative definite form is kústinn. Fata (bucket) is feminine, so its accusative definite form is fötuna. The verb taka forces both of them into the accusative case because they are the direct objects being brought out.

Why does the letter A in fata change to an Ö in fötuna?

This is a quick refresher on the U-shift. The basic dictionary word is fata. In the accusative case, it becomes fötu. That U ending reaches back and changes the root A to an Ö. Finally, we just add the definite article -na to the end to get fötuna (the bucket).