Breakdown of Við verðum að grafa djúpt í námuna á morgun.
við
we
að
to (infinitive marker)
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
á morgun
tomorrow
verða
to become; will be
djúpur
deep
grafa
to dig
náman
the mine
Questions & Answers about Við verðum að grafa djúpt í námuna á morgun.
Why is námuna in the accusative case here instead of the dative?
The preposition í can take either the accusative or the dative case. It takes the accusative when it shows movement or direction towards a destination, like digging "into" the mine. If we were already stationary inside the mine, we would use the dative form námunni.
Why is djúpt in the neuter form?
In this sentence, djúpt is not acting as an adjective modifying a noun, but rather as an adverb describing how we are digging. In Icelandic, you typically form an adverb by using the neuter singular form of an adjective.
Does verðum alone mean "have to"?
No, the verb verða on its own usually means "to become" or "will be". To say "have to" or "must", you have to use verða að followed by an infinitive verb, which gives us the modal phrase verðum að grafa here.
What case is used in the phrase á morgun?
The word morgun is in the accusative case. When the preposition á is used for future time expressions, such as á morgun (tomorrow) or pointing to a specific upcoming day like á sunnudaginn (on Sunday), it triggers the accusative case.
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