Question 1

How does adding Það er ... sem change the meaning of this sentence compared to just saying Tískusýningin fær alla athyglina?

Accepted Answer

It adds emphasis. Instead of just stating a regular fact like 'The fashion show gets all the attention', the Það er [X] sem ... structure (a cleft sentence) singles out the fashion show as the specific thing getting the attention. It translates exactly to the English structure 'It is the fashion show that...'.

Question 2

Does the focused word inside the Það er ... sem structure always take the nominative case, like tískusýningin does here?

Accepted Answer

No, its case depends on its grammatical role in the second part of the sentence (the sem clause). Here, the fashion show is the subject doing the getting (fær), so it is in the nominative case. If it were the object being acted upon by the verb, it would take whatever case that verb requires (accusative, dative, or genitive).

Question 3

Why is it alla athyglina rather than allt athyglina?

Accepted Answer

The word for 'all' (allur) must agree in gender, number, and case with the noun it modifies. The noun athygli (attention) is feminine, and it is the direct object of fær (gets), so it must be in the accusative case. The feminine, singular, accusative form of allur is alla.

Question 4

Why does the verb fá (to get) become fær in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

Fá is an irregular verb. In this sentence, it is conjugated in the third-person singular present tense because the relative pronoun sem acts as the subject and refers back to a third-person singular noun (the fashion show). The present tense pattern for fá is: ég fæ, þú færð, hann/hún/það fær.

Það er tískusýningin sem fær alla athyglina.

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