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Samkvæmt tölfræðinni lifa konur lengur en karlmenn.

Samkvæmt tölfræðinni lifa konur lengur en karlmenn.
According to the statistics, women live longer than men.
From Lesson 333:Reporting sources (samkvæmt)·Icelandic

Questions & Answers about Samkvæmt tölfræðinni lifa konur lengur en karlmenn.

How does samkvæmt affect the word tölfræðinni here?
The preposition samkvæmt (according to) always forces the noun that follows it into the dative case. Here, the base feminine noun tölfræði is combined with the definite dative suffix -nni, becoming tölfræðinni.
The word "statistics" is plural in English. Is tölfræðinni plural in Icelandic?
No, it is singular. Tölfræði is a feminine noun that is treated as a single, uncountable concept in Icelandic, much like "math" or "science" in English. It literally translates to the field or science of numbers.
Why does the verb lifa come before the subject konur?
This happens because of the V2 (verb-second) rule. The sentence begins with the prepositional phrase Samkvæmt tölfræðinni, which occupies the first "slot" in the sentence. The verb lifa must take the second slot, pushing the subject konur to the third position.
Why is "longer" translated as lengur instead of lengri?
Lengur is the comparative form of the adverb lengi (for a long time), which is used here to modify the verb lifa (to live). You would only use lengri if you were comparing the physical length of a noun, using it as an adjective (for example, a longer book or a longer road).

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