Breakdown of Vinnudagurinn er erfiður, en verkamennirnir halda áfram að uppskera akurinn.
vera
to be
en
but
að
to (infinitive marker)
halda áfram
to continue, keep going
erfiður
difficult
uppskera
to harvest
akurinn
the field
verkamaðurinn
the worker
vinnudagurinn
the workday
Questions & Answers about Vinnudagurinn er erfiður, en verkamennirnir halda áfram að uppskera akurinn.
How does the phrase halda áfram að work in this sentence?
This phrase is used to show a continuous action, meaning 'to keep doing' or 'to continue'. Here, the verb halda is conjugated to match the plural subject verkamennirnir. The word áfram means 'onwards', and it is followed by the infinitive marker að and the action verb uppskera.
Why is the word for the workers verkamennirnir instead of ending in -maður?
The singular word for 'worker' is verkamaður. Just like in English (man vs. men), the Icelandic word maður has an irregular plural form: menn. To say 'the workers', we add the plural masculine definite article -irnir to get verkamennirnir.
I have seen uppskera used as the noun 'harvest'. How do we know it is a verb here?
You can tell it is a verb here because it directly follows að, which acts as the infinitive marker ('to') in the phrase halda áfram að. Many Icelandic words, like uppskera, can be both a noun ('a harvest') and a verb ('to harvest') depending on their placement in the sentence.
Why does the adjective erfiður end in -ur?
Adjectives must match the gender, number, and case of the noun they describe. It describes vinnudagurinn (the workday), which is a masculine, singular noun in the nominative case. Therefore, the adjective takes the standard masculine singular nominative ending -ur.
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