Questions & Answers about Hún reif gamla bréfið.
Why does the verb rífa become reif here?
Rífa is a strong verb, meaning it changes its stem vowel in the past tense instead of adding a regular suffix. The í changes to ei in the past singular, so hún rífur (she tears) becomes hún reif (she tore).
Why is the adjective gamla used here instead of the neuter form gamalt?
Because the noun is definite (bréfið means the letter). When an adjective modifies a noun with the definite article attached, you must use the weak declension. The weak neuter singular form of gamall is gamla. If she had torn an old letter, you would use the strong form: Hún reif gamalt bréf.
Why does gamall lose a letter to become gamla instead of 'gamala'?
The adjective gamall drops its second a whenever an ending starting with a vowel is added. This is a common pattern in Icelandic that shrinks the word to make it easier to say, so it becomes gamla.
Which case is bréfið in here?
It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb rífa. Because bréf is a neuter word, its accusative form is identical to its nominative (subject) form, so it looks exactly the same either way.
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