Word
Hjónin eru skilningsrík og hlusta hvort á annað.
Meaning
The married couple are understanding and listen to each other.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Hjónin eru skilningsrík og hlusta hvort á annað.
vera
to be
og
and
hlusta
to listen
á
to/at (with verbs of perception: hlusta á, horfa á)
Questions & Answers about Hjónin eru skilningsrík og hlusta hvort á annað.
Why do we use hvort á annað instead of hvert á annað here?
The pronoun hvor is used when referring to exactly two people or things, which naturally applies to a married couple (hjón). If the group had three or more people, you would use hver instead.
Why is the phrase split around the preposition á, and how do the cases work?
In Icelandic, reciprocal pronouns are usually split by the preposition. The first part (hvort) stays in the nominative case, acting like a subject ("each one"). The preposition á then dictates the case of the second part. Because the verb phrase hlusta á requires the accusative case, the second part becomes annað.
Why are hvort and annað in the neuter singular form?
They refer back to hjónin (the married couple), which is a neuter noun. Even though hjónin is grammatically plural, the reciprocal pronoun breaks the couple down into two individuals. Since no specific genders are mentioned for the individuals, Icelandic defaults to the neuter singular forms hvort and annað to mean "each one".
Why is the adjective skilningsrík rather than skilningsríkir?