Breakdown of Við skiptumst á að gera vaktaskrána.
við
we
gera
to do / to make (something) + adjective
að
to (infinitive marker)
vaktaskráin
the roster
skiptast á
to take turns
Questions & Answers about Við skiptumst á að gera vaktaskrána.
Why does the verb skiptumst end in "-st"?
This is the middle voice form of the verb skipta (to change or divide). The -st ending often shows that an action is reciprocal, meaning people do it with one another. The fixed phrase skiptast á means "to take turns" or "to exchange".
Why is the preposition á used right before að gera?
The phrasal verb for "to take turns" is always skiptast á. When you add what you are taking turns doing, you keep the á and just add að plus the infinitive verb. Here, skiptast á að gera literally means "take turns at to make", which we translate as "take turns making".
Let's break down the word vaktaskrána. What are its parts?
It is a compound noun made from vakt (a shift) and skrá (a list, document, or roster). The -na at the end is the attached feminine definite article, making it "the shift roster". It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb gera.
How does this sentence relate to the lesson's focus on "every other"?
While this sentence doesn't use the pronoun phrase for "every other", taking turns (skiptast á) is a natural alternative to express the same distributive frequency. If two of you take turns making the roster, you are effectively doing it annað hvert skipti (every other time) or aðra hverja viku (every other week).
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