Breakdown of Mengunin kemur til með að kosta mannkynið mikið.
mikið
a lot
kosta
to cost
koma til með að
will (prediction)
mengunin
the pollution
mannkynið
the human race
Questions & Answers about Mengunin kemur til með að kosta mannkynið mikið.
Why do we use kemur til með að here instead of just the present tense kostar or the future with mun?
The phrase koma til með að is used to predict a future event or a logical consequence, much like "is going to" in English. While mun kosta (will cost) also works for predictions, koma til með að is very common in everyday language for outcomes that we foresee happening, like the effects of pollution.
What case is mannkynið (humanity) in here?
It is in the accusative case. The verb kosta (to cost) is special because it takes a double accusative: both the entity paying the cost (mannkynið) and the amount being paid (mikið) are in the accusative. Because mannkyn is a neuter word, its nominative and accusative forms look exactly the same.
How is the word mannkynið formed?
It is a compound word made of mann- (the stem of maður, meaning human or man) and kyn (meaning kind, species, or gender). The -ið at the end is the neuter singular definite article, giving us "the human race" or "humanity".
I see mengunin ends in -in. Is this a feminine noun?
Yes! Nouns ending in -un, like mengun (pollution), are almost always feminine. The -in suffix is the feminine definite article, making it "the pollution".
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