Question 1

Since festum can be both present and past tense, how do we know which one it is here?

Accepted Answer

Out of context, it can actually be either! The verb festa (to attach, to fasten) has the exact same form for the first-person plural in both the present and past tense (við festum). The English translation tells us it is present here, but it could perfectly well mean 'we did not attach' in a past-tense narrative.

Question 2

Why does the preposition á take the accusative case here (kommóðuna) instead of the dative?

Accepted Answer

The preposition á takes the accusative because the action of attaching involves a sense of motion or destination: you are moving the top onto the chest of drawers to fix it in place. If you were describing something already resting statically on top of it, you would use the dative case (á kommóðunni).

Question 3

Could we just use enn instead of ennþá here to mean 'yet'?

Accepted Answer

Yes, both can mean 'yet' or 'still' and are often interchangeable. In negative sentences, the combination ekki ... ennþá (not ... yet) is extremely common in everyday speech. Using enn works just as well grammatically, but ennþá often feels slightly more emphatic or natural in spoken Icelandic.

Question 4

What is the base word for kommóðuna and how is the definite article formed here?

Accepted Answer

The base word is kommóða (chest of drawers), which is a weak feminine noun. In the accusative case, the ending changes from '-a' to '-u', making it kommóðu. To make it definite, you add the feminine accusative suffix -na, resulting in kommóðuna.

Við festum ekki toppinn á kommóðuna ennþá.

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