Breakdown of Vináttan er mikilvæg og þær hjálpa hvor annarri.
vera
to be
og
and
þær
they (f)
hjálpa
to help
mikilvægur
important
hvor annar
each other
vináttan
the friendship
Questions & Answers about Vináttan er mikilvæg og þær hjálpa hvor annarri.
Why do we use hvor annarri here instead of hver annarri?
We use hvor instead of hver when talking about exactly two people or things. The pronoun þær can mean two or more females, but the use of hvor tells us strictly that there are only two friends. If there were three or more, we would use hver annarri.
Why is the phrase split into two different cases (hvor and annarri)?
This is the split case rule for 'each other' in Icelandic. The first part (hvor) stays in the nominative case, echoing the subject of the sentence. The second part (annarri) takes the case governed by the verb. Since the verb hjálpa (to help) requires its object to be in the dative case, the second word becomes dative.
Why are both parts of hvor annarri in the feminine form?
The reciprocal pronoun has to agree with the gender of the subject. Because the subject is þær (they, feminine), both halves of the phrase must be feminine. hvor is the feminine nominative singular, and annarri is the feminine dative singular.
Why does vináttan have the definite article attached here?
In English, we usually leave out 'the' when talking about abstract concepts in a general way, saying 'Friendship is important'. Icelandic usually includes the definite article for these broad, abstract concepts, making it vináttan (the friendship).
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