Breakdown of Eigandinn hlýtur að vera íþróttamaður.
vera
to be
að
to (infinitive marker)
eigandinn
the owner
hljóta
to must
íþróttamaðurinn
the athlete
Questions & Answers about Eigandinn hlýtur að vera íþróttamaður.
How is hlýtur used to mean "must" in this sentence?
The verb hljóta (here conjugated as hlýtur) is used for logical deductions, meaning "must be" or "is bound to be." It shows that you are making a confident assumption based on evidence, like seeing someone's sporty gear. If you wanted to express an obligation or a rule, like "the owner must pay rent," you would use the verb verða instead.
Why do we need the word að before vera? English just says "must be," not "must to be."
In Icelandic, the modal verb hljóta requires the infinitive marker að before the following verb. So literally, you are saying "The owner is bound to be an athlete." This is a key difference from English and from some other Icelandic modals like vilja (want) or geta (can), which don't use að.
What is the base word for eigandinn (the owner), and how is the definite article attached?
The base word is eigandi (owner), which comes from the verb eiga (to own). Words ending in -andi are usually masculine nouns describing a person who does an action. To say "the owner," you just add the masculine definite article suffix -nn to the end, making it eigandinn.
Why is íþróttamaður in the nominative case? Doesn't the verb usually force the next word into the accusative case?
Usually, action verbs do force the following noun into the accusative case. However, the verb vera (to be) is a linking verb. It acts like an equals sign between the subject (eigandinn) and the description (íþróttamaður). Because the subject is in the nominative (dictionary) case, the noun following vera must also be in the nominative case to match it.
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