Breakdown of Ég sé verkamanninn skoða hverja og eina.
og
and
ég
I
einn
one
sjá
to see
skoða
to look at
hver
each / every
verkamaðurinn
the worker
Questions & Answers about Ég sé verkamanninn skoða hverja og eina.
Why is the worker in the accusative case (verkamanninn) if he is the one doing the inspecting?
This sentence uses an accusative with infinitive construction, which is common with verbs of perception like sjá (to see). The person being seen doing the action is placed in the accusative case (verkamanninn), and the action they are performing remains in the infinitive (skoða).
Why doesn't the verb skoða have the infinitive marker að in front of it?
In this specific sensory construction, the verb sjá takes a bare infinitive. You simply use skoða without að. This mirrors English grammar, where we say I see the worker inspect rather than I see the worker to inspect.
Why is the phrase for each and every one written as hverja og eina (feminine) instead of masculine or neuter?
The phrase hverja og eina is in the feminine accusative form. Because Icelandic pronouns must agree in gender with the noun they replace, this tells us that the unstated objects the worker is inspecting are feminine words (for example, vél for machine or bók for book). If the objects were masculine, it would be hvern og einn.
How does the noun verkamaður decline to become verkamanninn?
The base noun is verkamaður (worker), which ends with the word maður (man). In the accusative case, maður changes irregularly to mann. We then attach the masculine accusative definite article -inn, resulting in verkamanninn (the worker).
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