Breakdown of Konan er sannarlega sú sem ræður.
vera
to be
konan
the woman
sem
who / which / that
ráða
to decide, to be in charge
sannarlega
truly
sú
the one (f)
Questions & Answers about Konan er sannarlega sú sem ræður.
Why do we use sú sem here instead of sá sem?
Sú is the feminine singular form of the demonstrative pronoun (meaning 'that' or 'the one'). We use it here because it refers directly back to Konan (the woman), which is a feminine noun. If the sentence was about a man (Maðurinn), you would use the masculine sá sem.
Does the relative word sem ever change its form to match gender or number?
No. While the demonstrative part (sá, sú, þeir, etc.) must agree with the noun it refers to in gender and number, the relative particle sem (who/which/that) never changes. It is completely indeclinable.
What is the infinitive form of ræður, and how is it being used here?
The infinitive is ráða, which means 'to decide', 'to rule', or 'to control'. While ráða often takes a dative object (like 'to control something'), here it is used without an object to mean 'to be the one in charge' or 'to make the decisions'.
Why does the adverb sannarlega come after the verb er rather than before it?
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