Breakdown of Gjafaranum voru afhent spilin í dag.
vera
to be
í dag
today
spilið
the card (playing card)
afhenda
to deliver
Questions & Answers about Gjafaranum voru afhent spilin í dag.
Why is the verb plural (voru) when the dealer (Gjafaranum) is singular?
Why is the past participle afhent instead of another form like afhentir?
Just like the auxiliary verb, the past participle in this passive structure must agree with the nominative object in gender, number, and case. Spilin is neuter, plural, and nominative, so the participle takes the neuter plural nominative form afhent.
What is the dictionary form of Gjafaranum, and how does its declension work here?
The base word is gjafari (dealer or giver), which is a weak masculine noun. Weak nouns ending in -ari have the exact same form in the accusative, dative, and genitive singular: gjafara. When you attach the dative definite article -num, you get gjafaranum.
What active verb does afhent come from, and what cases does it usually govern?
It comes from afhenda (to hand over or deliver). In the active voice, it takes a dative recipient and an accusative object. In this passive sentence, the dative recipient becomes the subject, while the accusative object gets promoted to the nominative case.