Breakdown of Venjulega kyssir mamma barnið.
barnið
the child
mamman
the mom (informal)
kyssa
to kiss
venjulega
usually
Questions & Answers about Venjulega kyssir mamma barnið.
Why does this sentence use kyssir instead of the -st middle voice form?
This sentence uses the regular base verb kyssa (to kiss) because one person (mom) is doing the action to someone else (the child). The middle voice form, kyssast, means "to kiss each other." You would use that if the action was mutual, like Þau kyssast (They kiss).
Why is the verb kyssir before the subject mamma?
Because of the V2 (verb-second) rule! In Icelandic, the main verb almost always has to be the second piece of information in the sentence. Since this sentence starts with the adverb venjulega (usually), the verb kyssir must come second. That pushes the subject mamma into the third spot.
If mamma and barnið swapped places, would the meaning change?
Yes! Word order and case endings work together here. If you said Venjulega kyssir barnið..., "the child" becomes the subject doing the kissing. You would also have to change mamma to its accusative (object) form, mömmu. So, "Usually the child kisses mom" would be Venjulega kyssir barnið mömmu.
What case is barnið in here?
It is in the accusative case, because it is the direct object receiving the kiss. The base word is barn (child), which is a neuter noun. For neuter words, the nominative (subject) and accusative (object) forms look exactly the same. The -ið at the end is just the attached definite article meaning "the".