Breakdown of Konan hleypur í kofann með hundinum.
hundurinn
the dog
konan
the woman
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
hlaupa
to run
með
with
kofinn
the hut
Questions & Answers about Konan hleypur í kofann með hundinum.
How would you change this sentence to say 'The woman starts running...' using the grammar from this lesson?
You would use the conjugated form of fara (to go) plus að and the infinitive of the main verb. The sentence becomes: Konan fer að hlaupa í kofann með hundinum. This literally translates to 'The woman goes to run' but is the standard Icelandic way to express that she starts running or is about to run.
Why do the prepositions í and með trigger different cases here (kofann is accusative, but hundinum is dative)?
The preposition í takes the accusative case here because it indicates active motion toward a destination (she is running into the hut). The preposition með takes the dative case when it means 'together with' or 'accompanied by'. Because she is accompanied by the dog, hundurinn becomes hundinum in the dative.
Hleypur comes from the verb hlaupa (to run). Why does the vowel change so drastically?
Hlaupa is a strong verb, and many strong verbs undergo a predictable vowel shift in the present tense singular. The au in the infinitive changes to ey for the singular forms, making it hún hleypur (she runs). In the plural, it reverts to the original vowel: við hlaupum (we run).
What is the dictionary form (nominative singular) of kofann, and how is the definite article attached here?
The base form is kofi (hut). It is a weak masculine noun, meaning its accusative, dative, and genitive singular form is simply kofa. Because she is running into the hut, we need the accusative definite form. We take kofa and add the masculine accusative article suffix -nn, giving us kofann.
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