Breakdown of Ég tel þessa hreyfingu göfuga.
ég
I
þessi
this (m/f)
telja
to believe, to consider
hreyfingin
the movement
göfugur
noble
Questions & Answers about Ég tel þessa hreyfingu göfuga.
Why is göfuga in the accusative feminine here?
It describes the direct object, þessa hreyfingu (this movement). In Icelandic, adjectives acting as an objective predicative (describing the object of a verb like telja, to consider) must agree with that object in gender, number, and case. Since hreyfingu is accusative feminine singular, the adjective göfugur becomes göfuga.
Wait, doesn't the demonstrative þessa trigger the weak declension? Why is göfuga using the strong declension?
That is true for attributive adjectives (adjectives directly attached to the noun, like 'this noble movement'). However, göfuga is a predicative adjective here, meaning it states a conclusion about the noun via the verb. Predicative adjectives almost always take the strong declension, even when the noun they describe is defined by a demonstrative pronoun or the definite article.
How does the verb telja mean 'to consider' here instead of 'to count'?
While telja literally means 'to count', it is very commonly used to mean 'to believe', 'to reckon', or 'to consider' when expressing an opinion. This is similar to the older English phrase 'I count it a blessing.' When expressing an opinion like this, it takes a direct object and a descriptive adjective.
Why does the noun hreyfing change to hreyfingu?
Hreyfing is a feminine noun ending in -ing. Nouns with this suffix are very predictable: they add an -u in the accusative, dative, and genitive singular. Because it is the direct object of tel, it takes the accusative case here.
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