Breakdown of Það er enginn jafn metnaðargjarn og kærastinn minn.
vera
to be
og
and
það
it / there (existential) / the one (n)
minn
my
kærastinn
the boyfriend
enginn
no one / nobody / no (m/f)
jafn
as, equally (as in "as tall as")
metnaðargjarn
ambitious (of a person)
Questions & Answers about Það er enginn jafn metnaðargjarn og kærastinn minn.
How is metnaðargjarn formed, and what exactly does the -gjarn suffix mean?
It is formed from the noun metnaður (ambition). As is common in compound words, the first part takes the genitive case, which is metnaðar. The suffix -gjarn indicates a strong propensity, tendency, or desire for something, making the literal meaning "prone to ambition" or simply "ambitious".
Why are we using og for the second "as" in this sentence?
To say "as [adjective] as" in Icelandic, the standard structure is jafn [adjective] og. The word jafn means "equally" and og works like "as" in comparisons of equality. Literally, it reads as "equally ambitious and my boyfriend".
If enginn just refers to "no one" in general, why is it in the masculine form?
When referring to an unspecified person like "no one" or "nobody", Icelandic defaults to the masculine singular pronoun enginn. Because of this, any adjectives describing that pronoun, such as metnaðargjarn, must also agree and be in the masculine singular form.
Why isn't kærastinn minn in the accusative case here?
Comparisons using jafn ... og require both sides of the comparison to be in the same case. Because the primary subject of the sentence (enginn) is in the nominative case, the person being compared to it (kærastinn minn) must also remain in the nominative case.
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