Breakdown of Örbylgjuofninn er jafn vandaður og ísskápurinn.
vera
to be
og
and
ísskápurinn
the fridge
jafn
as, equally (jafn ... og)
örbylgjuofninn
the microwave
vandaður
high-quality
Questions & Answers about Örbylgjuofninn er jafn vandaður og ísskápurinn.
How does the comparison structure jafn ... og work here?
To show that two things possess a quality to the exact same degree, you use jafn (equally) right before the adjective, followed by og. While og usually translates to 'and', in this equative comparison it translates to 'as'. Literally, the sentence is saying the microwave is 'equally high-quality and' the fridge.
Why does the adjective vandaður end in -ur?
In Icelandic, adjectives in comparisons still have to agree with the noun they describe. Because the subject örbylgjuofninn is a masculine noun in the nominative case, the adjective vandaður takes the standard masculine nominative singular ending -ur.
How do the roots inside örbylgjuofninn build the meaning of the word?
It is a highly literal compound word that mirrors English. It combines ör (micro), bylgju (a form of bylgja, meaning wave), and ofn (oven). The -inn ending is the attached definite article, making it 'the microwave'.
Does the second noun in a jafn ... og comparison always take the nominative case?
Not always! The second noun matches the grammatical case of the noun it is being compared to. Because the first item örbylgjuofninn is the subject of the sentence and in the nominative case, ísskápurinn must also be nominative. If you were comparing two objects in the accusative case, both nouns would be accusative.
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