Breakdown of Stofnandinn talaði sannfærandi við fjárfestinn.
tala
to speak
við
with (talking with)
stofnandinn
the founder
sannfærandi
convincing
fjárfestirinn
the investor
Questions & Answers about Stofnandinn talaði sannfærandi við fjárfestinn.
Why does sannfærandi end in -andi instead of a typical adverb ending like -lega?
The word sannfærandi is the present participle of the verb sannfæra (to convince). In Icelandic, present participles always end in -andi and can be used as adjectives or, as shown here, adverbs meaning 'convincingly'. A great bonus for learners is that these -andi words never change their endings for gender, number, or case.
Why is the accusative form of 'the investor' fjárfestinn instead of something like fjárfestann?
The base word is fjárfestir, a masculine noun belonging to a specific group ending in -ir (just like læknir). In the accusative case, it drops the -r to become fjárfesti. When you add the standard masculine accusative definite article -nn, you get fjárfestinn.
Why do we use við here instead of til for speaking 'to' someone?
The verb tala (to speak or talk) almost always pairs with the preposition við when indicating who you are addressing. It functions just like 'talk with' in English. Using til here would sound unnatural because til is typically reserved for indicating physical movement toward a destination or in specific phrasal verbs.
If I wanted to summarize a story by starting this sentence with í stuttu máli (in short), how would the word order change?
Because Icelandic strictly follows the V2 (verb-second) rule, putting a phrase like í stuttu máli at the start of the sentence pushes the verb into the second slot. This means the verb talaði must swap places with the subject stofnandinn, resulting in: Í stuttu máli talaði stofnandinn sannfærandi við fjárfestinn.
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