Við sáum kóralrifið og hafsbotninn neðansjávar.
We saw the coral reef and the ocean floor underwater.
Breakdown of Við sáum kóralrifið og hafsbotninn neðansjávar.
og
and
við
we
sjá
to see
hafsbotninn
the ocean floor
kóralrifið
the coral reef
neðansjávar
underwater
Questions & Answers about Við sáum kóralrifið og hafsbotninn neðansjávar.
Is kóralrifið an "accusative of extent" since that is the focus of this lesson?
No, in this sentence, kóralrifið and hafsbotninn are just regular direct objects. The verb sjá (to see) takes the accusative case for the things being seen. An accusative of extent would be used for a physical distance or duration (like swimming "a mile" or waiting "a day"), rather than the physical object you are looking at.
Why does neðansjávar end in -ar?
This word is an adverb meaning "underwater", but it is built from the preposition neðan (from below / beneath) and the genitive form of sjór (sea or ocean), which is sjávar. Many Icelandic adverbs and fixed expressions are formed by locking a noun into the genitive case like this.
Why is there an s in the middle of hafsbotninn but not in kóralrifið?
When joining two nouns to make a compound word, Icelandic often uses the genitive case for the first word. Hafs is the genitive of haf (ocean), making hafsbotn literally the "ocean's floor". On the other hand, kóralrif just glues the root words together without a genitive s, which is also a very common way to build compounds.
How do the definite articles work on these compound words?
In Icelandic compound nouns, the gender and the definite article always come from the very last part of the word. Rif is a neuter word, so it takes the neuter definite article -ið (kóralrifið). Botn is a masculine word, so it takes the masculine article -inn (hafsbotninn). Both are in the accusative case here because they are direct objects.
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