Breakdown of Lyktin af rósinni er mest áberandi.
vera
to be
rósin
the rose
af
off
mest
most
lyktin
the smell
áberandi
prominent
Questions & Answers about Lyktin af rósinni er mest áberandi.
Why do we use mest here instead of adding a superlative ending to áberandi?
Áberandi is a present participle (recognized by the -andi ending) functioning as an adjective. In Icelandic, present participles do not change their endings to show degree. Instead, we use analytical comparison, adding the adverbs meira (more) or mest (most) in front of them, just like "more" and "most" in English.
Does mest need to agree with the feminine noun lyktin?
No, it doesn't. When meira and mest are used to form comparative and superlative degrees for indeclinable adjectives like áberandi, they act as adverbs rather than adjectives. Because adverbs don't inflect for gender, mest stays in this default form regardless of the noun's gender.
Why does the sentence use the preposition af instead of the genitive case to say "the smell of the rose"?
While you could technically use the genitive and say lykt rósarinnar, using af is much more natural and idiomatic in Icelandic when talking about sensory things emanating from a physical source, like smells, sounds, or heat. Remember that af always takes the dative case, giving us rósinni.
Where does the word áberandi come from?
It is the present participle of the verb phrase að bera á, which means "to be noticeable" or "to stand out". While it originates from a verb, it is used everyday as a standard adjective meaning "prominent", "noticeable", or "conspicuous".
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