Breakdown of Svikahrappurinn segist vera ríkur.
vera
to be
ríkur
rich
svikahrappurinn
the con artist
segjast
to claim (about oneself)
Questions & Answers about Svikahrappurinn segist vera ríkur.
Why is there no að before the infinitive vera?
Verbs like segjast (to claim / say of oneself) and þykjast (to pretend) are followed directly by a bare infinitive. You must drop the infinitive marker að, so it is segist vera, not segist að vera.
Why is the adjective ríkur in the nominative case?
The adjective ríkur describes the subject, svikahrappurinn, who is making the claim about himself. Because segjast links the subject back to itself, any adjectives that follow must agree with the subject in gender (masculine), number (singular), and case (nominative).
Could we use the active verb segja here instead of the middle-voice segist?
Yes, you could say Svikahrappurinn segir að hann sé ríkur (The con artist says that he is rich), using the active voice and a subjunctive verb. However, using the middle-voice segist with an infinitive is a much more concise and common way to report what someone says about themselves.
What is the word svikahrappurinn made of?
It is a compound noun. The first part is svika, the genitive plural of svik (fraud, deceit, or betrayal). The second part is hrappur (a rogue, scoundrel, or cheat). Finally, -inn is the masculine definite article.