Learn Icelandic: Ég get ekki tuggið þetta!

Unlike English, where 'can' is followed by the infinitive ('chew'), the Icelandic verb geta (to be able to) must be followed by the supine form of the main verb, known in Icelandic as the sagnbót. The supine is usually identical to the neuter form of the past participle, which is why we use tuggið here instead of tyggja.

The dictionary form is tyggja. Why is the vowel a u in tuggið?

The verb tyggja (to chew) is irregular. When forming the past tense and the supine, the vowel shifts from y to u. For example, 'I chewed' is ég tuggði and the supine used after geta is tuggið.

Why is þetta (this) in the neuter form here?

Just like the independent pronouns eitthvað (something) and ekkert (nothing) from this lesson, demonstrative pronouns default to the neuter form (þetta) when they stand alone to represent an unspecified 'thing' or an unnamed substance, rather than pointing back to a specific masculine or feminine noun.

Could I say Ég get tuggið ekki þetta?

No, in Icelandic main clauses, the conjugated verb (get) takes the second position, and the negation ekki generally follows it directly. The main action verb (tuggið) gets pushed further back, making the correct order Ég get ekki tuggið þetta.