Breakdown of Hvern vill sálfræðingurinn skilja núna?
núna
now
skilja
to understand
hver
who / what / which (one)
vilja
to want (to will, be willing)
sálfræðingurinn
the psychologist
Questions & Answers about Hvern vill sálfræðingurinn skilja núna?
Why is the sentence starting with Hvern instead of Hver?
Hvern is the accusative masculine form of the interrogative pronoun hver (who). It takes the accusative case here because it is the direct object of the verb skilja (to understand). The psychologist is the subject doing the action, and Hvern (whom) is the person receiving it.
Why does the verb vill come before the subject sálfræðingurinn?
This is because of the V2 (verb-second) rule. Since the question word Hvern takes the first position in the sentence, the conjugated verb vill (wants) must take the second position. This pushes the subject sálfræðingurinn (the psychologist) into the third slot.
Why is there no word for "to" before skilja (to understand)?
The verb vilja (to want) functions as a modal verb in Icelandic. Modal verbs are followed directly by the infinitive form of the next verb, meaning you drop the infinitive marker að (to) that would normally appear before a verb like skilja.
How can I break down the long word sálfræðingurinn?
It is a compound noun built from sál (soul or mind) and fræði (science or study). The suffix -ingur is used to refer to a person of a certain profession or origin. Finally, the -inn at the end is the attached definite article, making the whole word mean "the psychologist".
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