Breakdown of Kennarinn spyr hvernig við nútímavæðum skólakerfið.
kennarinn
the teacher
við
we
hvernig
how
spyrja
to ask
skólakerfið
the school system
nútímavæða
to modernize
Questions & Answers about Kennarinn spyr hvernig við nútímavæðum skólakerfið.
Is nútímavæðum in the indicative or subjunctive mood here?
It is in the subjunctive. Indirect questions following verbs like spyrja (to ask) trigger the subjunctive mood in Icelandic. The first-person plural present subjunctive of nútímavæða is nútímavæðum, which happens to look exactly the same as the indicative form.
What is the suffix -væða used for in nútímavæðum?
If we start this sentence with the addition connective auk þess (furthermore), how does it affect the word order?
Starting with an adverbial phrase like auk þess triggers the V2 (verb-second) rule in the main clause. The main verb spyr must be the second element, so it swaps places with the subject: Auk þess spyr kennarinn hvernig við nútímavæðum skólakerfið.
Why does the verb nútímavæðum come after the subject við instead of following a V2 pattern after hvernig?
The strict V2 rule applies to main clauses. The second half of this sentence is a subordinate clause (an indirect question). In subordinate clauses, the normal word order is retained, meaning the subject (við) comes directly after the question word (hvernig), followed by the verb.
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