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Augnlæknirinn spyr hversu góð sjónin er.

Augnlæknirinn spyr hversu góð sjónin er.
The eye doctor asks how good the eyesight is.
From Lesson 277:Questions of degree (hvað / hversu)·Icelandic

Questions & Answers about Augnlæknirinn spyr hversu góð sjónin er.

Wait, doesn't hvernig mean "how"? Why use hversu here?
Hvernig means "how" in the sense of "in what way" or "how is something done". But when you want to express "how [adjective]" or "how [adverb]"—like "how good", "how big", or "how fast"—you must use hversu (or hvað).
Why is it góð and not the default dictionary form gott?
In Icelandic, the adjective in a "how [adjective]" phrase still has to agree with the noun it describes. Since sjónin (the eyesight) is a feminine noun in the nominative case, the adjective must be the feminine nominative góð. If the doctor asked about a masculine noun like skórinn (the shoe), it would be hversu góður.
Why is the word order at the end sjónin er, rather than er sjónin?
Because this is an indirect question. If you ask the question directly, the verb comes right after the question phrase: Hversu góð er sjónin? (How good is the eyesight?). But when you embed that question inside another sentence ("The doctor asks..."), the word order changes back to the standard Subject + Verb: ...hversu góð sjónin er.
How is the word augnlæknirinn formed?
It's a compound of auga (eye) and læknirinn (the doctor). When forming compound words in Icelandic, the first word is often put into its genitive (possessive) form. The genitive plural of auga is augna, which drops the final vowel to become the prefix augn-.

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