Breakdown of Stelpurnar sofa stundum hjá vinum.
stelpan
the girl
vinurinn
the friend
sofa
to sleep
stundum
sometimes
hjá
next to / at (someone's) place, with
Questions & Answers about Stelpurnar sofa stundum hjá vinum.
Why does the word for friends end in -um (vinum)?
It comes after the preposition hjá (at/with), which always forces the noun into the dative case. In Icelandic, the dative plural ending for almost all bare (indefinite) nouns is -um. So, the basic plural vinir (friends) becomes vinum.
Where is the word for "houses" in this sentence?
There isn't one! Using the preposition hjá followed by a person is the standard way to say "at [someone's] house" or "at [someone's] place". Literally, hjá vinum just means "by friends" or "with friends".
The word stundum (sometimes) also ends in -um. Is it a dative plural noun too?
Historically, yes! It was originally the dative plural of the noun stund (a moment or while). However, in modern Icelandic it acts as a fixed adverb meaning "sometimes". You just treat it as a single vocabulary word and never change its ending.
Why is the word order sofa stundum instead of "stundum sofa" like the English "sometimes sleep"?
Icelandic has a strict "verb-second" rule in main clauses. The verb sofa (sleep) must take the second slot in the sentence, right after the subject Stelpurnar (The girls). Because of this, the adverb stundum (sometimes) is pushed to the spot right after the verb.
Learn Stelpurnar sofa stundum hjá vinum and more in Icelandic
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free