Breakdown of Til dæmis er umsækjandinn sem fékk stöðuna hæfur.
vera
to be
fá
to get
sem
who / which / that
til dæmis
for example
staðan
the position / the situation
hæfur
qualified
umsækjandinn
the applicant
Questions & Answers about Til dæmis er umsækjandinn sem fékk stöðuna hæfur.
Since this lesson is about sá sem, why doesn't this sentence use sá before sem?
Sá sem means 'the one who'. Because we have a specific noun here (umsækjandinn, 'the applicant'), we don't need the pronoun sá. We just use the definite noun followed by sem. If we dropped the noun entirely, we would use the pronoun: sá sem fékk stöðuna er hæfur (the one who got the position is qualified).
Why does the verb er come before the subject umsækjandinn?
What kind of noun is umsækjandinn, and what does its ending mean?
The base word is umsækjandi (applicant). This belongs to a group of masculine nouns ending in -andi, which are often formed from verbs to describe a person doing an action. The extra -nn at the end is the attached definite article, making it 'the applicant'.
Why is the adjective hæfur (qualified) all the way at the end of the sentence?
The core sentence is simply umsækjandinn er hæfur (the applicant is qualified). The phrase sem fékk stöðuna (who got the position) is a relative clause that must sit directly next to the noun it describes, so it interrupts the main sentence and pushes the adjective to the end.
What is the base verb for fékk?
Fékk is the third-person past tense of fá (to get or receive). It is a strong verb, meaning it changes its core vowel in the past tense rather than adding a regular ending. This is a very common irregular form you will see often.
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