Breakdown of Gömlu hjónin ganga saman á hverjum degi.
gamall
old
saman
together / on end (after a dative plural time noun)
á
onto / on / in (static location) / on (a day of the week)
ganga
to walk
dagurinn
the day (m)
hver
each / every
hjónin
the married couple
Questions & Answers about Gömlu hjónin ganga saman á hverjum degi.
Why is the adjective gömlu used instead of gamall or gömul?
Because hjónin (the couple) has a definite article attached to it. In Icelandic, adjectives take the weak declension when modifying a definite noun. For plural nouns of any gender, this weak ending is -u, which changes gamall to gömlu.
Since a couple is a single unit, why is the verb ganga in the plural form?
Why is the phrase á hverjum degi in the dative case?
When the preposition á is used to describe recurring time expressions like 'every day', it governs the dative case. This changes the masculine word hver (every) to hverjum and dagur (day) to degi.
Could I use the verb labba instead of ganga here?
Yes, you absolutely can. Að labba is very common in everyday spoken Icelandic for taking a casual walk or stroll. Að ganga is the standard, slightly more formal word for walking, but both are completely natural here.
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