Hún hlýtur að klára rannsóknarverkefnið á einu ári.
She must finish the research project in one year.
Breakdown of Hún hlýtur að klára rannsóknarverkefnið á einu ári.
hún
she
að
to (infinitive marker)
einn
one
klára
to finish
árið
the year
hljóta
to must
á
in (within a time span)
rannsóknarverkefnið
the research project
Questions & Answers about Hún hlýtur að klára rannsóknarverkefnið á einu ári.
Why does the sentence use á einu ári instead of í eitt ár?
This is the specific rule for completion time. When you want to say how long it takes to finish a task, you use á followed by the dative case. If you used í plus the accusative case (í eitt ár), it would mean she is working on it for one year, but not necessarily that she finishes it in that timeframe.
Why is the phrase einu ári in the dative case?
The preposition á triggers the dative case when used to express the time it takes to complete an action. The neuter noun ár (year) takes the dative ending -i to become ári, and the number word for one changes to its neuter dative form, einu.
Why use hlýtur here for 'must' rather than verður or þarf?
The verb hljóta (here as hlýtur) carries a nuance of logical necessity or strong expectation, similar to 'she is bound to' or 'it must be that she'. Using verður að would state a strict external obligation ('she has to'), while þarf að means 'she needs to'. Hlýtur implies we strongly expect she will finish it based on the facts.
How do you break down the long word rannsóknarverkefnið?
It is a compound word made of rannsókn (research) and verkefni (project or task), plus the definite article -ð (the). To link them, rannsókn takes its genitive (possessive) ending -ar, literally forming a 'project of research'. It is in the accusative case here because it is the direct object of the verb klára.
Learn Hún hlýtur að klára rannsóknarverkefnið á einu ári and more in Icelandic
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free