Learn Icelandic: Hvers þunglyndi er þetta?

Hvers þunglyndi er þetta?

Whose depression is this?

Breakdown of Hvers þunglyndi er þetta?

who / what / which (one)

þunglyndið

the depression

Questions & Answers about Hvers þunglyndi er þetta?

Why do we use Hvers instead of Hver here?

Hvers is the genitive (possessive) case of the interrogative pronoun hver (who). In Icelandic, there is no separate vocabulary word for 'whose'; instead, you literally ask 'of whom' by putting hver into the genitive case.

Does hvers change its form to match the gender of the noun it owns?

No, it doesn't. When asking 'whose', you are asking about the identity of the owner, not the object being owned. Because of this, hvers stays fixed in this genitive singular form, regardless of whether the noun following it is masculine, feminine, or neuter (like þunglyndi).

How is the noun þunglyndi (depression) built?

It is a great example of literal Icelandic word-building! It combines the adjective þungur (heavy) and the noun lyndi (mood, disposition, or temper). So, depression is quite literally described as a 'heavy mood'.

Would we change þetta to þessi if the noun being asked about wasn't neuter?

No. In the common question structure Hvers ... er þetta? (Whose ... is this?), the word þetta acts as a general, independent pointer ('this thing here') rather than an adjective attaching directly to the noun. Therefore, it stays in the default neuter form þetta regardless of the noun's gender. It just happens that þunglyndi is also neuter!