Breakdown of Nemendurnir eru lengi að draga hvert strik af því að þeir vanda sig.
vera
to be
nemandinn
the student
þeir
they (m)
að
to (infinitive marker)
lengi
for a long time
af því að
because
draga
to draw (pull, drag)
hver
each / every
strikið
the stroke
vanda sig
to work carefully / to do one's best
Questions & Answers about Nemendurnir eru lengi að draga hvert strik af því að þeir vanda sig.
The lesson covers both fljótur and lengi. If the students were quick, would we say nemendurnir eru fljótt að draga?
No, you would say nemendurnir eru fljótir að draga. This highlights the main grammatical difference in this lesson: fljótur is an adjective and must agree in gender and number with the subject (masculine plural fljótir for nemendurnir). Lengi, however, is an adverb, so its form never changes, no matter who is taking a long time.
Could I translate "take a long time" literally and say taka langan tíma að draga instead of eru lengi að?
You can use taka langan tíma for events or processes (like "the flight takes a long time"), but when describing a person actively doing something at a slow pace, vera lengi að + infinitive is much more natural and idiomatic in Icelandic.
How does the verb vanda sig work in this sentence?
Vanda means to make an effort or do something carefully. It is extremely common as a reflexive verb (vanda sig), meaning the subject is applying care to their own actions. Because the subject is the third-person plural þeir, the reflexive pronoun is sig. If it were "I work carefully", it would be ég vanda mig.
Why is it hvert strik rather than hvern strik?
The word hver (each/every) declines to match the gender, number, and case of the noun it modifies. The noun strik (stroke/line) is neuter, and the verb draga (to draw) takes an object in the accusative case. The neuter accusative singular form of hver is hvert.
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