Breakdown of Það er ekki einu sinni prófessorinn sem skilur aðalatriðið.
vera
to be
það
it / there (existential) / the one (n)
ekki
not
skilja
to understand
sem
who / which / that
einu sinni
once
prófessorinn
the professor
aðalatriðið
the main point
Questions & Answers about Það er ekki einu sinni prófessorinn sem skilur aðalatriðið.
How does ekki einu sinni work grammatically here since it emphasizes a noun instead of a verb?
In this sentence, ekki einu sinni (not even) acts as a focus particle modifying the noun phrase prófessorinn. Just like in English, you place it immediately before the word or phrase you want to emphasize. It is a fixed phrase, so it doesn't change form or alter the grammatical case of the noun that follows it.
Why use the Það er ... sem structure instead of just saying Ekki einu sinni prófessorinn skilur...?
This is called a cleft sentence, and it is used to put very strong emphasis on the noun. While you could just say Ekki einu sinni prófessorinn skilur aðalatriðið (Not even the professor understands the main point), framing it as Það er ekki einu sinni prófessorinn sem... (It is not even the professor who...) makes the surprise or contrast much more dramatic.
In the phrase sem skilur, what determines the conjugation of the verb?
The relative word sem (who/which/that) acts as the subject of its own clause, but it borrows its number and person from the noun it points back to. Because it refers back to prófessorinn (a third-person singular noun), the verb skilja (to understand) must take the third-person singular form, skilur.
What are the parts of the compound word aðalatriðið?
It is made of the prefix aðal- (main, chief, principal) and the neuter noun atriði (point, item, issue), followed by the neuter definite article -ið. The prefix aðal- is highly productive in Icelandic and very useful for a B2 learner to recognize, appearing in words like aðalpersóna (main character) and aðalréttur (main course).
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