Breakdown of Er loftræstingin í námunni góð?
vera
to be
góður
good
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
náman
the mine
loftræstingin
the ventilation
Questions & Answers about Er loftræstingin í námunni góð?
The current lesson is about the accusative and dative of nouns ending in '-ing'. Why isn't loftræstingin in the accusative or dative here?
Even though you are learning about those cases, loftræstingin (the ventilation) is the subject of this sentence, so it is in the nominative case. If it were the object of an action or following certain prepositions, it would change to loftræstinguna in the accusative or loftræstingunni in the dative.
How is the word loftræsting built?
Why is námunni in the dative case?
The preposition í (in) takes the dative case when it describes a fixed location (where something is located), rather than movement towards a destination. Since the ventilation is static inside the mine, the feminine noun náma (mine) takes the dative definite form námunni (in the mine).
Why does the sentence end with góð instead of góður or gott?
The adjective góð (good) describes loftræstingin. Because loftræsting is a feminine noun in the nominative singular, the adjective must agree with it and take the feminine nominative singular form góð. If the subject were masculine you would use góður, and for neuter you would use gott.
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