Word
Bækurnar og pennarnir eru á skrifborðunum undir lömpunum.
Meaning
The books and the pens are on the desks under the lamps.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Bækurnar og pennarnir eru á skrifborðunum undir lömpunum.
vera
to be
bókin
the book
og
and
á
onto / on / in (static location) / on (a day of the week)
Questions & Answers about Bækurnar og pennarnir eru á skrifborðunum undir lömpunum.
Why do skrifborðunum and lömpunum both end in -unum?
Both words are in the dative case because the prepositions á (on) and undir (under) trigger the dative when describing a fixed location. In the dative case, the plural definite ending (which adds the word the) is -unum for all nouns, regardless of whether they are masculine, feminine, or neuter.
Why does the word for lamp (lampi) change to lömp- in lömpunum?
This happens because of the U-shift rule. The basic dative plural of lampi is lömpum. The u in that -um ending causes the a in the root word to change to an ö. When we add the definite article to make it lömpunum, that ö stays in place.
Why do the subjects bækurnar and pennarnir have different definite endings?
Unlike the dative plural, which uses -unum for everything, the nominative plural uses different definite endings for each gender. Bók (book) is feminine, so its plural adds -nar. Penni (pen) is masculine, so its plural adds -nir.
I don't recognize the word bækurnar. What is the singular form?