Learn Icelandic: Stendur maðurinn bara þar? - Does the man just stand there?

Stendur maðurinn bara þar?

Does the man just stand there?

Breakdown of Stendur maðurinn bara þar?

Questions & Answers about Stendur maðurinn bara þar?

Why is the verb stendur instead of 'standur'?

The dictionary form of 'to stand' is standa. Because it is a strong verb, its vowel changes when used with singular subjects (I, you, he, she, it). Here, the stem vowel a changes to e, making it stendur. If it were plural, like 'we stand', it would not use the e.

Where is the word for 'does' in this question?

Icelandic does not use helper verbs like 'do' or 'does' to ask questions. Instead, you simply move the main verb to the front of the sentence. So, maðurinn stendur (the man stands) becomes stendur maðurinn? (does the man stand?).

How do we get 'the man' from maðurinn?

In Icelandic, the word for 'the' is not a separate word that goes before the noun. Instead, it gets attached to the end. The base word for a man is maður. By adding the suffix -inn to the end, it becomes maðurinn (the man).

Why do we use þar for 'there' instead of a word like þangað?

Icelandic has different words for 'there' depending on whether there is movement involved. Because the man is just standing still in one location, we use þar. If he were walking or moving towards that place, you would use þangað.