Breakdown of Hún stendur hjá gluggunum.
hún
she
glugginn
the window
standa
to stand
hjá
next to / at (someone's) place, with
Questions & Answers about Hún stendur hjá gluggunum.
Why is the word for "the windows" in the dative case here?
It is because of the preposition hjá (next to, by). In Icelandic, hjá always requires the noun that follows it to be in the dative case.
How do we build the dative plural form gluggunum?
The base word is gluggi (window). To make it dative plural, we use the ending -um, making it gluggum (windows). To add the word "the", we add the definite article ending, which gives us gluggunum (the windows).
Wait, why is there no "m" in the middle of gluggunum if the bare dative plural is gluggum?
When you add the definite article to a dative plural noun ending in -um, the m is dropped. So gluggum plus the article ending -num becomes gluggunum, not "gluggumnum". This rule applies to all nouns and makes them much easier to pronounce!
Does stendur mean "stands" or "is standing"?
It means both! Icelandic does not have a separate present continuous tense with an "-ing" ending like English does. Because of the context of being next to the windows, Hún stendur translates naturally here to "She is standing" right now.
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