Breakdown of Tengslin á milli þeirra beggja eru mjög náin.
vera
to be
mjög
very
þeir
they (m)
milli
between
báðir
both (m, f, n)
tengslin
the ties
náinn
close
Questions & Answers about Tengslin á milli þeirra beggja eru mjög náin.
Why are we using beggja here instead of another form of "both"?
The prepositional phrase á milli (between) forces the words that follow it into the genitive case. So, both the pronoun þeirra (them) and beggja (both) must be in the genitive.
Does beggja change depending on the gender of the people we are talking about?
No, it doesn't. While the word for "both" changes based on gender in the nominative and accusative cases, the genitive form beggja is exactly the same for masculine, feminine, and neuter.
Why is the adjective náin instead of the dictionary form náinn?
Adjectives must agree with the noun they describe. The subject here is tengslin (the ties), which is a neuter plural noun. Therefore, the adjective must also be in the neuter plural form, making it náin.
I see tengslin means "the ties". Do we use this word in the singular to mean "a tie"?
Not usually. The word tengsl (connection or relationship) is almost always used in the plural in Icelandic. Because it is a neuter plural noun, adding the definite article makes it tengslin.
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