Breakdown of Hvíldin er líka góð fyrir blóðrásina.
vera
to be
góður
good
líka
also
fyrir
for (fyrir þig)
blóðrásin
the blood circulation
hvíldin
the rest
Questions & Answers about Hvíldin er líka góð fyrir blóðrásina.
English says 'Rest is good', but the Icelandic sentence says Hvíldin ('The rest'). Why is there a definite article here?
In Icelandic, general concepts, abstract ideas, and categories often take the definite article where English leaves it out. Since the sentence is talking about 'rest' as a broad, general concept rather than a specific instance, it takes the definite ending and becomes Hvíldin.
Why is blóðrásina (the blood circulation) in the accusative case here?
The preposition fyrir can govern either the accusative or the dative case depending on its meaning. When it means 'for' in the sense of a purpose, benefit, or being good/bad for something, it takes the accusative case. It takes the dative case when describing location ('in front of') or time ('ago').
Why is the adjective góð used instead of the dictionary form gott?
Adjectives must match the gender, number, and case of the noun they describe. Hvíldin is a feminine noun in the nominative singular, so the adjective takes the feminine nominative singular form góð. The default dictionary form gott is only used for neuter nouns.
We are currently learning about feminine nouns that change their root vowel in the plural (like bók becoming bækur). Do hvíld or blóðrás follow this irregular pattern?
No, they are much simpler! While some older, high-frequency feminine nouns have an irregular vowel shift (i-umlaut) in the plural, both hvíld and blóðrás are regular strong feminine nouns. To make them plural, you just add -ir to the end without any vowel changes, giving us hvíldir and blóðrásir.
How do we know the gender of a compound word like blóðrás?
In Icelandic compound words, the gender is always determined by the very last noun in the chain. Even though blóð (blood) is a neuter noun, rás (course or channel) is feminine. Because the last part is feminine, the combined word blóðrás is also feminine, which is why it takes the feminine accusative article -ina at the end.
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