Breakdown of Stjórnin útnefndi hana frambjóðanda.
hún
she
stjórnin
the government, the board
frambjóðandinn
the candidate
útnefna
to nominate
Questions & Answers about Stjórnin útnefndi hana frambjóðanda.
Why are both hana and frambjóðanda in the accusative case here?
This sentence uses a double accusative, which is common with verbs of naming, electing, or designating like útnefna (to nominate). Both the direct object (hana) and the title or role she is given (frambjóðanda) take the accusative case.
Does Icelandic need a word for "as" in this sentence, like "nominated her as a candidate"?
No. While in English we often say "nominated her as a candidate," Icelandic verbs of electing and naming directly connect the two accusative objects. You don't use sem (as) here; you just place the role (frambjóðanda) directly after the person (hana).
Why does frambjóðanda end in -a?
Frambjóðandi (candidate) is a weak masculine noun ending in -andi, which is a pattern often used for words describing a person doing an action. In the accusative, dative, and genitive singular cases, these nouns change their ending to -a.
How is the verb útnefna constructed?
It is a compound of the prefix út (out) and the verb nefna (to name). Together they mean "to nominate" or "to designate" and it takes the exact same past tense ending (-di) as the base verb nefna.
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