Breakdown of Markaðsfræðingurinn skoðar kauphegðun aldraðra og fátækra.
og
and
skoða
to look at
fátækur
poor
markaðsfræðingurinn
the market researcher
kauphegðunin
the buying behavior
aldraður
elderly
Questions & Answers about Markaðsfræðingurinn skoðar kauphegðun aldraðra og fátækra.
Why do we use the adjectives aldraðra and fátækra without any nouns after them?
These are substantivized adjectives, meaning they act as nouns to describe a demographic group. Just like in English where we say 'the elderly' or 'the poor', Icelandic uses the plural adjectives aldraðra (from aldraður) and fátækra (from fátækur) independently to mean elderly people and poor people.
English uses the word 'the' for these groups ('the elderly', 'the poor'). Why are the Icelandic adjectives in the strong (indefinite) form instead of the weak (definite) form?
When talking about a demographic group in general, Icelandic typically uses the strong (indefinite) plural form of the adjective. If you used the definite weak form, it would single out a specific, previously mentioned group of people rather than the entire demographic.
Why are the words aldraðra and fátækra in the genitive case here?
What is the grammar behind the word kauphegðun in this sentence?
It is a compound of kaup (buying) and hegðun (behavior). It sits in the accusative case as the direct object of the verb skoðar (examines). Because this behavior belongs to the groups, it governs the following substantivized adjectives and forces them into the genitive case.
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