Questions & Answers about Hvað heitir strákurinn?
Why do we use hvað (what) instead of a word for 'who'?
When asking for someone's name using the verb heita (to be named/called), Icelandic uses hvað (what). It literally translates to 'What is the boy called?'
Why does the verb heitir come before the subject strákurinn?
In Icelandic wh-questions, the verb always takes the second position. The rule is to put your question word first (Hvað), followed immediately by your verb (heitir), and then the subject (strákurinn).
I remember strákur means 'a boy'. Why does it end in -inn here?
Icelandic doesn't use a separate word for 'the'. Instead, it glues the word for 'the' (the definite article) to the end of the noun. For a masculine noun like strákur, adding -inn makes it strákurinn (the boy).
Why does the verb end in an 'r' (heitir) instead of an 'i' (heiti)?
Verbs change depending on who the subject is. You use heiti when talking about yourself, as in ég heiti (I am named). But for 'he', 'she', or 'it' (the third person), the ending changes. Since strákurinn is a 'he', the verb becomes heitir.
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