Breakdown of Hún afgreiðir viðskiptavininn við afgreiðsluborðið í blómabúðinni.
hún
she
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
viðskiptavinurinn
the customer
blómabúðin
the flower shop
afgreiða
to serve (customers in a shop)
við
at / by (next to)
afgreiðsluborðið
the counter (physical table or desk)
Questions & Answers about Hún afgreiðir viðskiptavininn við afgreiðsluborðið í blómabúðinni.
The current lesson is about the recent perfect. How would I change this to say "She has just served the customer"?
You would use the phrase vera nýbúinn að combined with the infinitive verb. The sentence becomes Hún er nýbúin að afgreiða viðskiptavininn við afgreiðsluborðið í blómabúðinni. Notice that nýbúin changes to match the feminine subject Hún, and the conjugated verb afgreiðir turns into the infinitive afgreiða after að.
Why is blómabúðinni in the dative case while afgreiðsluborðið is in the accusative case?
This depends on the prepositions. The preposition í takes the dative case here because it describes a stationary location inside the shop. The preposition við takes the accusative case when it means being located "at" or "by" something, like standing at the counter. Since afgreiðsluborð is a neuter noun, its nominative and accusative forms look identical.
How do we get the form viðskiptavininn from the base dictionary word?
The dictionary form is the masculine noun viðskiptavinur (customer), which is literally a "business friend". Because the customer is the direct object being served, it takes the accusative case. It drops the masculine -ur ending to become viðskiptavin, and then we add the accusative definite article -inn to mean "the" customer.
I see a strong resemblance between afgreiðir and afgreiðsluborðið. Are they related?
Yes, they share the same root! The verb afgreiða means to serve or attend to someone. The noun form is afgreiðsla (service or checkout). By taking the linking form of that noun and attaching it to borð (table), you get afgreiðsluborð, which is literally a "service table" or counter.
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