Breakdown of Rotturnar eru óvelkomnar hér inni.
vera
to be
hér
here
inni
inside
rottan
the rat
óvelkominn
unwelcome
Questions & Answers about Rotturnar eru óvelkomnar hér inni.
How does the prefix ó- work in óvelkomnar, and does it change the word's grammar?
The prefix ó- works exactly like the English "un-" or "in-", turning velkominn (welcome) into óvelkominn (unwelcome). It is highly productive, meaning you can attach it to many adjectives. It doesn't change how the word works grammatically; you just attach it to the front and decline the base adjective exactly as you normally would.
Why does óvelkomnar end in -ar here?
Adjectives must agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they describe. Since Rotturnar (the rats) is feminine, plural, and in the nominative case, the base adjective óvelkominn drops the masculine ending and takes the feminine plural nominative ending -ar, becoming óvelkomnar.
I remember "the rat" is rottan. How do we get rotturnar for the plural?
Why use hér inni instead of just hér or hér inn?
Hér inni specifically means "in here" (inside this specific place). While hér just means "here", adding inni clarifies they are indoors. We use inni (a stationary location word) rather than inn (a movement word) because the sentence describes where the rats are, not where they are going.
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