Breakdown of Hann ók of hratt í gegnum bæinn.
hann
he
bærinn
the town
hratt
fast
of
too
aka
to drive (formal term)
í gegnum
through (+ Accusative)
Questions & Answers about Hann ók of hratt í gegnum bæinn.
The verb ók doesn't look like an infinitive I know. What verb is this?
It is the past tense of the strong verb aka (to drive). Strong verbs change their root vowel in the past tense instead of adding a regular ending. Notice that while aka usually requires a dative object (like driving a specific car), here it is used without an object to just describe the general action of driving.
Why does the word for fast, hratt, end in a double T?
Why is the word for town, bæinn, in the accusative case here?
The case is decided by the two-word preposition í gegnum (through). This specific preposition always forces the noun that follows it into the accusative case.
How is the definite form bæinn built from the base word?
The base noun is bær, which is a masculine word. In the accusative case, the indefinite form drops the -r to become bæ. To say 'the town', you add the masculine accusative definite article suffix -inn, giving you bæinn.
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