Breakdown of Strákurinn fer að vökna í steypiregninu.
strákurinn
the boy
fara
to go
að
to (infinitive marker)
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
vökna
to get wet
steypiregnið
the downpour
Questions & Answers about Strákurinn fer að vökna í steypiregninu.
Why does fer að vökna mean "is starting to get wet" rather than "goes to get wet"?
This sentence uses the fara að + infinitive construction. While fara literally means "to go", when you pair it with að and another verb in the infinitive, it means "to start doing" or "to be about to". So fer að vökna translates to "starts to get wet" or "is starting to get wet".
Is the verb vökna related to the adjective for "wet"?
How is the compound word steypiregninu built?
It is made of three parts. Steypi- comes from the verb steypa (to pour, cast, or throw down). Next is regn (rain). Finally, -inu is the attached definite article ("the"). Put together, it literally means "the pouring rain" or "the downpour".
Why is steypiregninu in the dative case here?
The preposition í (in) can take either the accusative or dative case. It takes the dative when describing a stationary location or an ongoing state—in this case, the boy is already out in the rain. If he were walking out of a house into the rain (showing a change of location), í would take the accusative case instead.
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