Question 1

Why does jafnvel come right before the subject, and does it affect the case of hlustandinn?

Accepted Answer

Here, jafnvel acts as a focus particle attaching directly to the noun phrase to mean "even the listener." Because it functions as an adverbial particle rather than a preposition, it does not govern case. The subject naturally stays in the nominative case.

Question 2

If I moved jafnvel to a different part of the sentence, would the meaning change?

Accepted Answer

Yes, the placement changes what is being emphasized. Putting it right at the start specifically highlights the noun (hlustandinn). If you placed it after the verb (Hlustandinn virðist jafnvel sofa), it would shift the focus to the action, meaning "The listener seems to even sleep."

Question 3

Why is there no að before the infinitive verb sofa?

Accepted Answer

The middle voice verb virðast (to seem) is followed directly by a bare infinitive. While most verbs require the infinitive marker að, virðast behaves like modal verbs and a few other middle voice verbs (like þykjast) which drop the að.

Question 4

What kind of noun is hlustandinn, and how does its definite form work?

Accepted Answer

The root word is hlustandi (listener), which is an -andi noun created from the present participle of hlusta (to listen). These are weak masculine nouns. For a B2 refresher: they are very regular and end in -anda in the accusative, dative, and genitive singular forms before the definite article is added.

Jafnvel hlustandinn virðist sofa.

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