Learn Icelandic: Blaðamaðurinn greindi frá slysinu í gær. - The journalist reported on the accident yesterday.

Blaðamaðurinn greindi frá slysinu í gær.

The journalist reported on the accident yesterday.

Breakdown of Blaðamaðurinn greindi frá slysinu í gær.

to report on, to relate (written register)

Questions & Answers about Blaðamaðurinn greindi frá slysinu í gær.

What does the preposition frá add to the verb greindi in this sentence?

By itself, the verb greina typically means "to analyze," "to diagnose," or "to distinguish." When paired with frá, it creates the phrasal verb greina frá, which specifically means "to report on," "to recount," or "to tell about."

Why is the word for the accident written as slysinu here?

It is in the dative case because it follows the preposition frá, which always requires its object to be dative. The base neuter word is slys, and adding the dative definite article -inu gives us slysinu.

If I want to emphasize that this happened yesterday, can I put í gær at the start of the sentence?

Yes, but you must remember the verb-second (V2) rule of Icelandic. If you start with Í gær, the verb must immediately follow it, swapping places with the subject to become: Í gær greindi blaðamaðurinn frá slysinu.

Why is there an extra "a" in the middle of the compound word blaðamaðurinn?

Blaðamaður (journalist) is a compound of blað (newspaper/leaf) and maður (person). When combining nouns in Icelandic, the first word is often put into the genitive (possessive) case. Here, it uses the genitive plural form blaða, so the word literally translates to "a person of newspapers."