Breakdown of Hinn merki forseti og stofnandinn hittust.
og
and
hittast
to meet each other
hinn
the (formal definite article)
merkur
remarkable
Questions & Answers about Hinn merki forseti og stofnandinn hittust.
Why do we use hinn before merki forseti but add -nn to the end of stofnandinn?
This shows how the formal definite article works. When an adjective is present in formal Icelandic, we use the free-standing article hinn plus the weak adjective merki and the bare noun forseti. Because stofnandinn does not have an adjective attached to it, it just uses the standard suffixed definite article.
Why is the adjective merki instead of merkur?
The free-standing definite article hinn forces the following adjective into its weak declension. For a masculine singular adjective, that weak form ends in -i, making merkur become merki.
Is forseti also in a weak form here because of hinn?
forseti is naturally a weak masculine noun, which is why it ends in -i in the nominative case. However, its form here has nothing to do with hinn. The rule is simply that hinn + weak adjective must be followed by the bare, dictionary form of the noun, which is forseti.
What does the -st ending on the verb hittust do?
It makes the verb middle voice. For the verb hitta (to meet), adding the -st ending gives it a reciprocal meaning, showing that the president and the founder met each other.