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Questions & Answers about Starfsfólkið er framúrskarandi.
This lesson is about the evaluative subjunctive. Why does this sentence use the indicative er instead of sé?
You only use the evaluative subjunctive when expressing a subjective value judgment in a subordinate að clause. If you expanded this to say 'It is wonderful that the staff is outstanding' (Það er frábært að starfsfólkið sé framúrskarandi), you would use the subjunctive sé. Because this sentence is a standalone, direct statement of fact, it requires the indicative er.
Why is the singular verb er used when 'staff' refers to multiple people?
In Icelandic, collective nouns like starfsfólk (staff or personnel) are grammatically singular. Even though the word represents a group of people, it always takes the singular verb er and the singular definite article -ið. While English speakers might say 'the staff are', Icelandic strictly follows the singular grammar of the word.
Would the ending of framúrskarandi change if it were describing a masculine or feminine noun?
No, it would stay exactly the same. Framúrskarandi (outstanding) is a present participle, which you can recognize by the -andi suffix. When present participles are used as adjectives in Icelandic, they are completely indeclinable. They never change form, regardless of the gender, number, or case of the noun they describe.
How is the word framúrskarandi constructed?