Breakdown of Kennarinn sem vinnur hér býst við hvassviðri og snörpum hviðum.
hér
here
og
and
kennarinn
the teacher
vinna
to work (general labor, to do work)
sem
who / which / that
búast við
to expect (anticipate)
hvassviðrið
the gale
snarpur
sharp (sudden, brisk)
hviðan
the gust
Questions & Answers about Kennarinn sem vinnur hér býst við hvassviðri og snörpum hviðum.
Why is the verb býst used here instead of býr, and why is it paired with við?
Býst is the middle voice (which often ends in -st) of the verb búa (to live or to prepare). When it is put in the middle voice and paired with the preposition við to form búast við, the meaning changes completely to "to expect".
Doesn't the preposition við usually require the accusative case? Why are hvassviðri and hviðum in the dative?
You are correct that við generally takes the accusative case. However, when við acts as a fixed part of the phrasal verb búast við (to expect), it strictly dictates the dative case for whatever is being expected.
Why does the base adjective snarpur (sharp) change to snörpum?
It has to match the dative plural noun hviðum (gusts). The dative plural ending for all adjectives is -um. Adding this ending triggers a U-mutation, which pulls the root vowel a in snarpur into an ö, resulting in snörpum.
If búast við triggers the dative case, why doesn't the neuter noun hvassviðri (gale) get a new dative ending?
Hvassviðri is a neuter noun that already ends in -i in its base nominative form. For neuter nouns ending in -i, the word stays exactly the same across all four cases in the singular.
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