Breakdown of Við komum til með að vera á bakvakt aðra hverja helgi.
vera
to be
við
we
koma
to come
að
to (infinitive marker)
á
onto / on / in (static location) / on (a day of the week)
með
with
til
to
helgin
the weekend
annar hver
every other (m) / önnur hver (f) / annað hvert (n)
bakvaktin
the on-call shift
Questions & Answers about Við komum til með að vera á bakvakt aðra hverja helgi.
Why is it aðra hverja helgi and not just annar hver helgi?
To say 'every other', the phrase annar hver must agree with the noun it describes. Time expressions that tell us 'how often' something happens take the accusative case. Because helgi (weekend) is a feminine noun, we need the feminine accusative forms. Annar becomes aðra, and hver becomes hverja.
Do I always have to decline both words in annar hver?
Yes! This is a special type of pronoun phrase where both halves decline independently to match the noun. You are basically putting together the declined form of annar and the declined form of hver every time you use it.
What does komum til með að mean here? Could I just use munum instead?
The phrase koma til með að plus an infinitive verb is a very common way to express the future tense, meaning 'will' or 'are going to'. You absolutely could say við munum vera (we will be) instead, but koma til með að often sounds more natural and conversational in everyday Icelandic.
Why do we use the preposition á with bakvakt?
Just like in English where you say 'on call' or 'on a shift', Icelandic uses á for being on a watch or shift. Bakvakt literally translates to 'back-watch'. Since it describes a state of being rather than movement, á takes the dative case here, though the word bakvakt happens to look identical in the nominative, accusative, and dative cases.
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