Word
Sumir fuglar virðast svífa en aðrir detta.
Meaning
Some birds seem to hover, but others fall.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Sumir fuglar virðast svífa en aðrir detta.
en
but
fuglinn
the bird
annar
other, another; second
detta
to fall
Questions & Answers about Sumir fuglar virðast svífa en aðrir detta.
Why is there no að before the infinitive svífa?
When the middle-voice verb virðast (to seem) is used with a nominative subject, it behaves somewhat like a modal verb and takes a bare infinitive. You drop the að, which is why we say virðast svífa rather than virðast að svífa.
How does "subject raising" affect the verb virðast in this sentence?
In subject raising, the logical doers of the action (sumir fuglar) are "raised" to become the grammatical subject of the main verb (virðast). Because sumir fuglar is plural, the verb virðast must be conjugated in the third-person plural to match it, rather than staying in a default singular form.
Is detta in the infinitive form to match svífa?
It looks identical to the infinitive, but it is actually the third-person plural present form (they fall). The translation "but others fall" (rather than "seem to fall") tells us it is a fully conjugated verb belonging to the second subject, aðrir, instead of another infinitive governed by virðast.
Why use detta for a bird falling instead of falla?