Breakdown of Þær eru traustar vinkonur og sakna hvor annarrar.
vera
to be
og
and
þær
they (f)
vinkonan
the female friend
Questions & Answers about Þær eru traustar vinkonur og sakna hvor annarrar.
Why do we use hvor here instead of hver?
In Icelandic, hvor annar is used when referring to exactly two people or things, while hver annar is used for three or more. The use of hvor tells us there are exactly two friends involved, which is why the translation specifies "(two females)".
Why are the two parts of hvor annarrar in different cases?
This is a classic example of split case government. The first part (hvor) represents the subject of the action and stays in the nominative case. The second part (annarrar) acts as the object and takes the case demanded by the verb. Since the verb sakna (to miss) requires its object to be in the genitive case, we get the genitive form annarrar.
How do we know which gender to use for the reciprocal pronoun?
Both parts of the reciprocal pronoun must agree with the gender of the people being referred to. Since the friends are female—indicated by the feminine plural pronoun Þær and the noun vinkonur—both hvor and annarrar are declined in the feminine.
If hvor is singular, why is the verb sakna in the plural form?