Breakdown of Settu bílinn í gír og stígðu á kúplinguna.
bíllinn
the car
og
and
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
á
onto / on / in (static location) / on (a day of the week)
setja
to put
stíga
to step
gírinn
the gear
kúplingin
the clutch
Questions & Answers about Settu bílinn í gír og stígðu á kúplinguna.
How does the word settu (put) get its -tu ending?
Why does stígðu (step) take a -ðu ending instead of the -tu ending seen in settu?
The suffix changes based on the sound right before it. The imperative form of stíga is stíg. Since it ends in a voiced sound (the 'g'), the attached þú softens into -ðu. The rule of thumb is: use -tu after voiceless consonants, -du after l, m, n, and -ðu after vowels and voiced consonants.
Both í gír and á kúplinguna use prepositions. Why are gír and kúplinguna in the accusative case rather than the dative?
The prepositions í (in/into) and á (on/onto) can take either the accusative or the dative case. They take the accusative when they describe movement or an action directed towards a destination (putting the car into a state of gear, stepping onto the clutch). If you were already resting your foot on the clutch, it would be in the dative case (á kúplingunni).
How is the word kúplinguna formed?
It is the accusative, definite form of the feminine noun kúpling (clutch). To make a feminine noun definite in the accusative case, you add the suffix -ina or -una. Because kúpling ends in -ing, it takes the -una ending, resulting in kúplinguna (the clutch).
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