Breakdown of Skipuleggjarinn er undrandi af því að nánast fimmtíu þúsund manns mættu.
vera
to be
af því að
because
mæta
to show up
fimmtíu
fifty
þúsund
thousand
skipuleggjarinn
the organizer
nánast
almost
manns
people (for counting)
undrandi
amazed
Questions & Answers about Skipuleggjarinn er undrandi af því að nánast fimmtíu þúsund manns mættu.
Why do we use manns here instead of a regular plural word for people like fólk or menn?
When counting people, especially with exact numbers or quantities like fimmtíu þúsund (fifty thousand), Icelandic uses manns. This is an invariable partitive genitive. It literally translates to "of man," but it acts as a fixed way to say "people" after numbers.
If manns is grammatically singular, why is the verb mættu in the plural?
The verb agrees with the number phrase fimmtíu þúsund, which is plural. Even though the dependent word manns is a singular genitive form, the actual subject of the clause is the plural number, so the verb takes the plural past tense form mættu.
Why doesn't the adjective undrandi change to match the masculine subject skipuleggjarinn?
Undrandi is a present participle (ending in -andi) functioning as an adjective. In Icelandic, these -andi adjectives are invariable. They keep the exact same form regardless of the gender, number, or case of the noun they describe.
How is the noun skipuleggjarinn constructed?
It comes from the verb skipuleggja (to organize). Adding the suffix -ari creates the noun for the person doing the action (just like "-er" in English), giving us skipuleggjari. The -nn at the end is the attached definite article, making it "the organizer".
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