Breakdown of Nemandinn tekur tvo poka, eina pylsu og þrjú epli.
og
and
nemandinn
the student
einn
one
tveir
two
þrír
three
eplið
the apple
taka
to take
pylsan
the hot dog
pokinn
the bag (sack, plastic, or paper)
Questions & Answers about Nemandinn tekur tvo poka, eina pylsu og þrjú epli.
Why is it tvo poka and not tveir pokar?
The verb tekur (takes) forces the things being taken into the accusative (object) case. Because poki (bag) is a masculine word, the number two changes from the dictionary form tveir to the masculine accusative form tvo. The noun also changes to its accusative plural form, poka.
How do we know to use eina for the hot dog?
The word pylsa (hot dog) is a feminine noun. Since it is also in the accusative case here, we must use the feminine accusative form of the number one, which is eina. The noun itself also changes from pylsa to pylsu.
Why does þrjú epli stay exactly the same as its dictionary form?
Epli (apple) is a neuter noun. A handy rule in Icelandic is that neuter words, as well as the numbers that describe them, look exactly the same in the accusative case as they do in the nominative (subject) case. So, þrjú epli does not change its spelling when it becomes the object of the sentence.
What is happening with the ending of nemandinn?
The base word for student is nemandi. To say the student, Icelandic attaches the definite article to the end of the noun. Because nemandi already ends in a vowel, we just add -nn to make it nemandinn.
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