Breakdown of Ég er nýbúinn að afgreiða hann við afgreiðsluborðið.
vera
to be
ég
I
hann
he
að
to (infinitive marker)
nýbúinn
just finished
afgreiða
to serve (customers in a shop)
við
at / by (next to)
afgreiðsluborðið
the counter (physical table or desk)
Questions & Answers about Ég er nýbúinn að afgreiða hann við afgreiðsluborðið.
Does nýbúinn change depending on who is speaking?
Yes! The phrase vera nýbúinn að uses the adjective nýbúinn, which literally means "newly finished". Because it is an adjective, it must agree with the subject. In this sentence, the speaker is male, so it is in the masculine singular form. If the speaker were female, it would be Ég er nýbúin að. It is always followed by að and the infinitive form of the verb.
How do afgreiða and afgreiðsluborðið connect to each other?
afgreiðsluborðið is a compound word built directly from the action in the sentence. afgreiða is the verb meaning "to serve" or "to process". Its related noun is afgreiðsla (service or reception), which combines with borðið (the table) to create "the service counter".
Why is the object hann used here instead of the dative honum?
The verb afgreiða requires a direct object in the accusative case. Since the speaker is serving "him", you must use the accusative form of the pronoun, which is hann.
Why does the preposition við take the accusative case for afgreiðsluborðið here?
The preposition við can take either the accusative or the dative case. When you are talking about being physically positioned at or next to a piece of furniture, like standing at a counter or sitting at a table, við almost always triggers the accusative case. Since borð is a neuter noun, its accusative form with the attached definite article is exactly the same as its nominative form: borðið.
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