Breakdown of Konan er farin að snyrta sig betur.
vera
to be
konan
the woman
vel
well
fara
to go
að
to (infinitive marker)
snyrta sig
to groom oneself
Questions & Answers about Konan er farin að snyrta sig betur.
How does er farin að differ in nuance from just saying hefur byrjað að (has started to)?
The construction vera farinn að (literally "to be gone to") is a highly common way in Icelandic to express continuous inception. This means an action has started and is now an ongoing habit or state. While hefur byrjað að also means "has started to," er farin að emphasizes that this is a new, ongoing phase or a distinct change in her behavior.
Why is the word for "gone" spelled farin here instead of farinn?
In the vera farinn að construction, the past participle of fara acts like an adjective and must agree with the subject in gender, number, and case. Because the subject is Konan (a feminine, singular noun in the nominative case), the participle takes the feminine singular nominative form, farin.
Why do we need the reflexive pronoun sig in this sentence?
The verb snyrta is transitive, meaning "to groom," "to tidy," or "to trim." It requires an object to receive the action. Because she is performing the action on herself, we use the accusative reflexive pronoun sig (herself). If you left it out, an Icelander would be waiting to hear what exactly she started grooming.
Why use betur instead of betri for "better"?
betur is the comparative form of the adverb vel (well). It is used here because it describes how the action of grooming is being done (she grooms herself better). betri is an adjective, which you would only use to modify a noun directly (for example, if you were talking about a "better woman").
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