Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Icelandic grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Þekkir þú strákinn?
Why is the word for "the boy" strákinn instead of strákurinn?
In this sentence, the boy is the object of the verb (he is the one being known), so the word must be in the accusative case. The form strákurinn is the nominative (subject) form, while strákinn is the accusative definite form.
How do we build the accusative definite form strákinn?
First, take the base masculine noun strákur (boy) and change it to its accusative form by dropping the -ur, leaving strák. Then, add the masculine accusative definite ending -inn to get strákinn (the boy).
I thought the word for "to know" was vita. Why use þekkir here?
Icelandic has two different verbs for "to know." Use þekkja (which becomes þekkir here) when you mean knowing or being familiar with a person, place, or thing. Use vita when you mean knowing a fact or piece of information. Since you are asking about a person, þekkir is the correct choice.
Why does the sentence start with the verb Þekkir?
To ask a yes/no question in Icelandic, you simply swap the order of the subject and the verb. A normal statement would be Þú þekkir strákinn (You know the boy), so the question becomes Þekkir þú strákinn? (Do you know the boy?).