Word
Samheldnin í hópnum er ótrúleg.
Meaning
The cohesion in the group is incredible.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Samheldnin í hópnum er ótrúleg.
vera
to be
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
hópurinn
the group
ótrúlegur
incredible
Questions & Answers about Samheldnin í hópnum er ótrúleg.
How does the prefix sam- build the meaning of samheldnin?
The prefix sam- means "together", "shared", or "co-". Here, it is attached to heldni, which comes from the verb halda (to hold). Literally, samheldni means "holding together", which gives us the translation "cohesion" or "solidarity".
What is the dictionary form of samheldnin, and how is the definite article added?
The dictionary form is the feminine noun samheldni. Because it already ends in a vowel, the feminine definite article -in drops its i when attached. So, samheldni plus -in simply becomes samheldnin.
Why is hópnum in the dative case here?
The preposition í controls the dative case when describing a static location or state (being in the group). If the sentence described movement into a group, it would take the accusative case instead.
Why does the adjective ótrúleg not end in -t?
The adjective must agree with the subject it describes, which is the feminine, singular, nominative noun samheldnin. ótrúleg is the feminine form. You would see the neuter form ótrúlegt if the noun were neuter, or in a generic statement like það er ótrúlegt (it is incredible).