Breakdown of „Við ætlum ekki að sleppa fanganum,“ sagði lögreglan.
ekki
not
við
we
að
to (infinitive marker)
ætla
to intend
segja
to say
lögreglan
the police
sleppa
to let go, to escape / to avoid / get out of
fanginn
the prisoner
Questions & Answers about „Við ætlum ekki að sleppa fanganum,“ sagði lögreglan.
Why is fanganum in the dative case here?
The verb sleppa governs the dative case when it means "to let go of" or "to release" someone or something. If you used the accusative case instead, sleppa would mean "to skip" or "to miss" (like skipping a meeting or an event). Because the police are releasing a prisoner, the dative is required.
What is the root word for fanganum, and how does it get this ending?
The base word is fangi (prisoner), which is a weak masculine noun. In the dative case, it changes to fanga. Because the sentence specifies "the" prisoner, we add the masculine dative singular definite article -num, making it fanganum.
English treats "police" as plural (e.g., "the police say"). Why does Icelandic use the singular verb sagði here?
In Icelandic, lögregla (police) is a singular, feminine noun. Even though it describes a collective group of people, it strictly takes a singular verb. This is a common trap for English speakers, so always remember to treat lögreglan as a grammatically singular entity.
Why is the verb sagði placed before its subject lögreglan in the second half of the sentence?
This happens because of the V2 (verb-second) word order rule. The entire direct quote („Við ætlum ekki að sleppa fanganum“) acts as the first block of information in the main sentence. To keep the verb in the second position, sagði must come right after the quote, pushing the subject lögreglan after the verb.
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