Word
Hann verður stærri og stærri.
Meaning
It gets bigger and bigger.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Hann verður stærri og stærri.
Why does hann translate to 'it' in the English sentence instead of 'he'?
In Icelandic, nouns have a grammatical gender. When referring back to a masculine inanimate object or animal, such as a car (bíll) or a dog (hundur), you must use the masculine pronoun hann, even though English uses 'it'.
Why do we use verður for 'gets' here instead of fær?
The verb verða translates to 'to become' or 'to get' when referring to a change in state or condition. You would only use fá for 'to get' when talking about receiving or acquiring a physical thing.
How does the iterative comparison stærri og stærri match the subject grammatically?
Even in this repetitive structure, adjectives must agree with the subject they describe. Since hann is the subject, the adjectives are in the nominative case. Comparative adjectives have a simplified declension, ending in -i for both masculine and feminine singular subjects, which gives us stærri.
What if the sentence was about a neuter word, like a house (hús)? Would the phrase change?
Yes. For a neuter subject, the comparative adjective takes an -a ending in the nominative singular. If referring to a house, the pronoun would be það and the sentence would become Það verður stærra og stærra.