Breakdown of Umdeildi bæjarstjórinn er í bláum jakka. Er hann það?
vera
to be
hann
he
það
it / there (existential) / the one (n)
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
jakkinn
the jacket
blár
blue
bæjarstjórinn
the mayor
umdeildur
controversial
Questions & Answers about Umdeildi bæjarstjórinn er í bláum jakka. Er hann það?
Why does the echo question add það at the end instead of just saying Er hann?
In English, we can drop the rest of the sentence and just ask 'Is he?'. Icelandic does not leave the verb hanging like this. When echoing a statement with the verb vera (to be), you must include the pronoun það (it/that) as a placeholder for the information you are reacting to, which in this case is í bláum jakka.
Why do we use hann in the echo question?
Why is the preposition í used here to mean wearing?
In Icelandic, the most common way to say someone is wearing a specific item of clothing is to use the verb vera (to be) plus the preposition í. It literally translates to 'is in', which is sometimes used in English too, like 'the man in the blue jacket'.
Why are blár and jakki in the dative case (bláum jakka)?
The preposition í dictates the case of the noun that follows it. When í describes a stationary state, such as being physically located inside something or wearing a piece of clothing, it forces the following noun and its adjectives into the dative case.
Why is the adjective umdeildi used instead of the dictionary form umdeildur?
The adjective umdeildi (controversial) is in its weak form because it modifies a definite noun, bæjarstjórinn (the mayor). In Icelandic, whenever an adjective comes before a noun that has the definite article attached to it, the adjective must take the weak declension.
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