Breakdown of Maðurinn fer í ræktina með pabba.
maðurinn
the man
fara
to go
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
pabbinn
the dad (informal)
Questions & Answers about Maðurinn fer í ræktina með pabba.
Why is the word for dad written as pabba instead of pabbi?
This is because of the preposition með (with). When með is used to show accompaniment (doing something with someone), it forces the following noun into the dative case. The dative form of the masculine noun pabbi is pabba.
Why does the sentence use í for going "to" the gym instead of til?
In Icelandic, í (in/into) and á (on/onto) are commonly used with places to mean going "to" them. Til is usually saved for going to a person or to certain geographical locations like cities and countries. Because you go into a gym, we use í here.
How is the word ræktina (the gym) formed?
The base word for gym is rækt, which is a feminine noun. Because the man is moving towards a destination, the preposition í requires the accusative case. To add "the" to a feminine noun in the accusative case, we attach the ending -ina, giving us ræktina.
Does fer mean "is going" or "goes"?
It means both! Icelandic does not have a separate "-ing" form (continuous tense) like English does. The simple present tense verb fer (from the infinitive fara, meaning "to go") translates to both "goes" and "is going" depending on what makes the most sense in the English translation.