Breakdown of Flugfreyjan og flugþjónninn tala saman.
og
and
saman
together / on end (after a dative plural time noun)
tala
to speak
flugfreyjan
the flight attendant (f)
flugþjónninn
the flight attendant (m)
Questions & Answers about Flugfreyjan og flugþjónninn tala saman.
Why are there two different words for "flight attendant" (flugfreyjan and flugþjónninn)?
Icelandic often uses gendered job titles. Flugfreyja specifically refers to a female flight attendant, combining flug (flight) and freyja (lady or goddess). Flugþjónn refers to a male flight attendant, combining flug and þjónn (waiter or servant).
How are the definite articles ("the") formed at the end of these two nouns?
Both nouns are the subjects of the sentence, so they are in the nominative case. For the feminine noun flugfreyja, the ending becomes -an to make it definite (flugfreyjan). For the masculine noun flugþjónn, you add -inn to the end to get flugþjónninn.
Could I just say tala instead of tala saman?
You need the adverb saman (together) here to show that they are having a conversation with each other. Without it, tala just means "they speak" in a general sense, like having the physical ability to speak, rather than describing a mutual chat happening right now.
Could I use the preposition við (with/to) to say they are talking to each other?
Yes, but the grammar changes. You could say flugfreyjan talar við flugþjóninn (the female flight attendant talks to the male flight attendant). In that case, við forces the next word into the accusative case. Using the plural verb tala plus saman is just a more balanced way to express that the conversation is mutual.
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