Breakdown of Kvótinn er lítill. Við hækkum hann ekki.
vera
to be
hann
he
lítill
small / a little (small amount)
ekki
not
við
we
hækka
to raise / to increase
kvótinn
the quota
Questions & Answers about Kvótinn er lítill. Við hækkum hann ekki.
Why is the word order við hækkum hann ekki instead of við hækkum ekki hann?
This is called object shift (Fornafnaskotsfærsla). When the object is an unstressed pronoun like hann, it jumps in front of sentence adverbs like ekki. If you were using the full noun instead, it would stay after the adverb: Við hækkum ekki kvótann.
Why does the second sentence use hann (him) to refer to a quota?
This is a reminder of grammatical gender. Kvóti is a masculine noun, which you can tell from the -nn ending on the definite form kvótinn. Icelandic uses hann to replace masculine nouns, even for inanimate objects.
Why is the adjective lítill instead of lítið?
The adjective must agree with the noun it describes. Since kvótinn is masculine and in the nominative case (it is the subject of the sentence), we use the masculine nominative form lítill. You might be used to seeing lítið, but that is the neuter form, often used as an adverb or with neuter nouns.
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