Word
Læknirinn tók blóðprufu í gær.
Meaning
The doctor took a blood test yesterday.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Læknirinn tók blóðprufu í gær.
læknirinn
the doctor
taka
to take
í gær
yesterday
blóðprufan
the blood test
Questions & Answers about Læknirinn tók blóðprufu í gær.
Why does the word for blood test end in -u here (blóðprufu)?
The verb taka (here in the past tense as tók) takes a direct object in the accusative case. The base word is blóðprufa, which is a weak feminine noun ending in -a. Weak feminine nouns change their ending to -u in the accusative, dative, and genitive singular cases.
How do I know the gender of a compound word like blóðprufa?
In Icelandic compound words, the grammatical gender is always determined by the very last noun in the word. Even though the first part, blóð (blood), is neuter, the second part, prufa (test), is feminine. Therefore, the entire combined word acts as a feminine noun.
Looking at læknirinn, what is the base form of the word for doctor?
The base noun in the nominative case is læknir. To say "the doctor", you add the masculine definite article -inn to get læknirinn. Because it ends in -ir, learners sometimes mistake it for a verb, but it is a standard strong masculine noun.
Why is "yesterday" translated as two words, í gær?
Unlike English, which uses a single adverb, Icelandic uses a prepositional phrase to say "yesterday", literally meaning "in yesterday". You will never see gær used on its own; it is always paired with the preposition í.