Breakdown of Eldurinn brennur varla án súrefnis í eldstæðinu.
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
án
without
eldurinn
the fire
brenna
to burn
varla
hardly, barely
súrefnið
the oxygen
eldstæðið
the hearth (n)
Questions & Answers about Eldurinn brennur varla án súrefnis í eldstæðinu.
In English we say "barely burns", so why does varla come after the verb brennur here?
Icelandic strictly follows the V2 (verb-second) rule in main clauses. The conjugated verb brennur must be the second grammatical element, so the adverb varla (barely/hardly) is pushed to the position immediately following it. You treat it just like you would treat ekki (not).
Why is the word for oxygen, súrefni, written here as súrefnis?
The preposition án (without) is one of the few prepositions in Icelandic that always forces its object into the genitive case. Because of this, the neuter noun súrefni takes its genitive ending, adding an -s.
Why does í eldstæðinu use the dative case instead of the accusative?
The preposition í (in) dictates the dative case when describing a static location (where something is happening), but it takes the accusative case when describing motion toward a destination. Since the fire is simply located inside the hearth rather than moving into it, eldstæði takes the dative.
What root words make up the vocabulary items súrefni and eldstæði?
Súrefni combines súr (sour/acidic) and efni (substance/material), which actually mirrors the Greek roots of the English word "oxygen" (acid-maker). Eldstæði combines eldur (fire) and stæði (a place, stand, or position), translating quite literally to "fireplace".
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