Breakdown of Er auðvelt að greina á milli ykkar beggja?
vera
to be
að
to (infinitive marker)
milli
between
báðir
both (m, f, n)
ykkar
your (pl.)
auðveldur
easy
greina
to distinguish
Questions & Answers about Er auðvelt að greina á milli ykkar beggja?
Why is the word for 'both' in the form beggja here?
The phrase á milli (between) forces the words that follow it into the genitive case. Because of this, both the pronoun ykkar (you) and the word for 'both' must be in the genitive case. The genitive form of báðir (both) for all genders is beggja.
How does Icelandic express 'both of you' in this sentence?
Instead of using a separate preposition for 'of', Icelandic places the pronoun 'you' and the word 'both' next to each other in the matching case. Since they must be in the genitive case here, we use ykkar (you plural) and beggja (both).
What is the role of greina in this sentence?
The verb greina generally means 'to analyze' or 'to distinguish'. When you pair it with the phrase á milli (between), the full combination greina á milli specifically means 'to tell apart' or 'to distinguish between'.
Why is auðvelt in the neuter form instead of masculine or feminine?
The adjective auðvelt (easy) is describing the entire action of the sentence: 'to distinguish between both of you'. Whenever an adjective describes an infinitive verb phrase or a general action rather than a specific noun, it takes the default neuter singular form.
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