Breakdown of Spæjarinn sér grunsamlega manninn hlaupa í húsasundið.
maðurinn
the man
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
sjá
to see
hlaupa
to run
Questions & Answers about Spæjarinn sér grunsamlega manninn hlaupa í húsasundið.
Why is there no að before the verb hlaupa?
Because the main verb is sjá (to see). When using perception verbs like seeing or hearing someone do something, Icelandic uses the accusative object (grunsamlega manninn) followed by a bare infinitive (hlaupa) without að. It works just like English: you say the detective sees the man run, not sees the man to run.
Why is the adjective grunsamlega used instead of grunsamlegan?
Because it describes a definite noun, manninn (the man). When an adjective describes a noun with the definite article attached, it must use the weak declension. For a masculine accusative noun, the weak ending is -a. If the sentence were about an indefinite suspicious man, it would use the strong form grunsamlegan mann.
Why does the preposition í take the accusative form húsasundið instead of the dative?
The preposition í takes the accusative case when it describes motion or direction toward a destination (he is running into the alley). If the man were already inside the alley running around, it would describe a static location and take the dative case (í húsasundinu).
The dictionary form for man is maður. How does it become manninn here?