Breakdown of Sjúklingurinn er ekki vanur að melta þungan mat.
vera
to be
ekki
not
maturinn
the food
að
to (infinitive marker)
þungur
heavy
sjúklingurinn
the patient
vanur
used to
melta
to digest
Questions & Answers about Sjúklingurinn er ekki vanur að melta þungan mat.
Why is the word vanur in the masculine form here?
Because vanur is an adjective meaning "accustomed" or "used to", it must agree in gender, number, and case with the subject it describes. Since sjúklingurinn (the patient) is a masculine noun in the nominative case, vanur is also in the masculine singular nominative. If the subject were feminine, like hún (she), it would be vön.
Why do we use að melta (to digest) instead of a noun-like form for "digesting"?
In Icelandic, the habitual construction vera vanur is followed by the infinitive marker að and a verb in the infinitive (melta). English uses a gerund (the "-ing" form) after "used to", but Icelandic strictly uses the infinitive for this pattern.
Why are þungan and mat in the accusative case?
They are the direct object of the verb melta (to digest). This verb governs the accusative case, so the masculine noun matur becomes mat, and the adjective þungur (heavy) must agree with it, taking the masculine singular accusative form þungan.
Can melta be used figuratively like "digest" in English?
Yes! Just like in English, melta literally means digesting food, but it can also be used figuratively to mean processing information or thinking something over, such as in the phrase að melta þetta aðeins (to digest this a little bit).
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