Breakdown of Styggi hundurinn er miklu stærri en hinn, en hann þarf mikla umönnun.
vera
to be
hundurinn
the dog
hann
he
en
but
þurfa
to need
mikill
great, much (adjective: snjórinn er mikill)
stærri
bigger
hinn
the other
styggur
skittish
umönnunin
the care (looking after someone)
Questions & Answers about Styggi hundurinn er miklu stærri en hinn, en hann þarf mikla umönnun.
Why is the adjective styggi used instead of the dictionary form styggur?
Because the noun it describes, hundurinn, has the definite article attached to it. When an adjective comes before a definite noun, it must take its weak declension form. For a masculine nominative singular noun, that weak ending is -i.
Why is the word for 'much' in the dative case (miklu) here?
When comparing things to express exactly how much bigger, smaller, or faster something is, Icelandic uses the dative case. This is known as the dative of difference. So miklu stærri literally means 'bigger by much'.
How is hinn being used in this sentence?
Here, hinn acts as a standalone pronoun meaning 'the other' or 'the other one'. Because it refers back to the masculine noun hundurinn, it takes the masculine nominative singular form.
Why does the sentence use mikla umönnun instead of mikil umönnun?
The verb þurfa (to need) requires its object to be in the accusative case. Umönnun (care) is a feminine noun, so the adjective mikill changes to its feminine accusative form, mikla.
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