Breakdown of Pabbi keyrir bílinn um veginn.
bíllinn
the car
pabbinn
the dad (informal)
um
around
keyra
to drive
Questions & Answers about Pabbi keyrir bílinn um veginn.
Why does um mean "along" here? I thought it meant "about".
The preposition um can mean "about" (like talking about something), but when describing physical movement, it often means "through", "around", or "along" a path. Since this sentence is about motion, um tells us the path the car is taking.
Why does the word for "the road" change to veginn here?
The preposition um forces the noun that follows it into the accusative case. The basic dictionary form of "the road" is vegurinn, which is the nominative (subject) case. In the accusative case, the -ur- drops out, leaving us with veginn.
Is bílinn also in the accusative case because of a preposition?
No, bílinn (the car) is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the sentence, meaning it is the thing being driven. This sentence has two accusative words for different reasons: bílinn because of the verb keyrir, and veginn because of the preposition um.
Why isn't there an extra word for "is" in Pabbi keyrir?
Icelandic does not have a separate continuous tense like English does. The single verb keyrir can translate to both "drives" in general, or "is driving" at this exact moment, depending on the context.