Breakdown of Af hverju er þessi fundur mikilvægur?
vera
to be
þessi
this (m/f)
af hverju
why
fundurinn
the meeting
mikilvægur
important
Questions & Answers about Af hverju er þessi fundur mikilvægur?
How does the question phrase af hverju connect to the word for "because" (af því að) from our current lesson?
The phrase af hverju literally translates to "from what," and it is the most common way to ask "why" in spoken Icelandic. It pairs perfectly with the conjunction af því að (because), which literally means "from it that." So, you ask "from what?" (af hverju) and answer "from it that..." (af því að).
Why does the verb er come after af hverju instead of at the very beginning of the question?
For yes/no questions, Icelandic puts the verb first. However, when you use a specific question phrase like af hverju, it takes the first slot in the sentence. The verb er (is) must immediately follow it to satisfy the "V2 rule," which keeps the main verb in the second position.
Why does the adjective mikilvægur (important) end in -ur here?
Adjectives in Icelandic change their endings to match the gender of the noun they describe. The noun here is fundur (meeting), which is masculine. Because it is the subject of the sentence, the adjective takes the masculine subject ending, becoming mikilvægur.
Does the word þessi (this) change depending on what it is pointing at?
Yes! Just like adjectives, pointing words like "this" must match the gender of the noun. Because fundur is a masculine noun, we use the masculine form þessi. If you were talking about a neuter noun instead, like barn (child), "this child" would become þetta barn.
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