Breakdown of Eftir höggið hans lenti boltinn hinum megin við netið.
hans
his
eftir
after / for (waiting for)
hinn
the other
lenda
to land
við
at / by (next to)
megin
side (in spatial phrases)
netið
the net (in a game)
höggið
the stroke (n)
boltinn
the ball (m)
Questions & Answers about Eftir höggið hans lenti boltinn hinum megin við netið.
The lesson discusses how these directional phrases govern the genitive case or use a preposition. Why do we say hinum megin við netið here instead of using the genitive?
You absolutely can use the genitive and say hinum megin netsins, but in modern, everyday Icelandic, it is much more common to use the preposition við followed by the accusative case (which gives us við netið). Both are grammatically correct and mean the exact same thing, but adding við is the more natural choice when talking about physical boundaries like a net, a road, or a river.
Why do we use hinum megin here instead of öðru megin?
The correlative pair works like this: öðru megin means 'on ONE side,' while hinum megin means 'on the OTHER side.' Because hitting a ball over a net implies it is landing on the opposite side from the player, the sentence requires hinum megin to show that spatial contrast.
The word megin looks like a noun. Do I need to know how to decline it?
No, you don't! Megin is a 'frozen' dative form of an old word that originally meant 'side' or 'way' (historically related to the modern word vegur). Because it survives as a fossilized form used only in fixed directional phrases, it never declines or changes. You just pair it with a dative modifier like hinum, öðru, or báðum.
Why is the possessive pronoun hans placed after the noun, giving us höggið hans instead of hans högg?
In standard Icelandic, possessive pronouns usually follow the noun they modify, and the noun must take the definite article (the suffix -ið on högg). Putting the pronoun first without an article on the noun (hans högg) is grammatically allowed but sounds very poetic, formal, or highly emphatic. Sticking to höggið hans is the most natural way to speak.
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