Breakdown of Fölsunin er að engu leyti lík pensilfari listamannsins.
vera
to be
enginn
no one / nobody / no (m/f)
listamaðurinn
the artist
líkur
similar
Questions & Answers about Fölsunin er að engu leyti lík pensilfari listamannsins.
How does the phrase að engu leyti work here, and why is engu in the dative case?
Why is the word pensilfari in the dative case?
In Icelandic, the adjective líkur (similar to) requires the thing being resembled to be in the dative case. Since the forgery is being compared to the brushstroke, the neuter noun pensilfar takes its dative form, pensilfari.
Why does the adjective líkur appear as lík in this sentence?
Adjectives must agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they describe. Because the subject of the sentence is fölsunin (the forgery), which is a feminine, singular, nominative noun, the adjective must take its feminine nominative singular form: lík.
How is the word pensilfar constructed?
It is a compound noun made of pensill (paintbrush) and far (a track, mark, or print). Literally translating to 'paintbrush-mark', it is the Icelandic word for a brushstroke.