Breakdown of Er maðurinn með hattinn og sólgleraugun?
vera
to be
og
and
maðurinn
the man
með
with
hatturinn
the hat
sólgleraugun
the sunglasses
Questions & Answers about Er maðurinn með hattinn og sólgleraugun?
Why does the sentence use með to mean 'wearing'?
In Icelandic, the phrase vera með (literally 'to be with') is the standard way to talk about holding physical objects or wearing accessories like hats, glasses, scarves, or gloves. Therefore, Er maðurinn með... naturally translates to 'Is the man wearing...' in this context.
Why are the words for the hat and sunglasses in the accusative case here?
When the preposition með is used to mean carrying a physical object or wearing an accessory, it forces the noun that follows it into the accusative case. That is why both items of clothing are in the accusative here.
How do we get hattinn from the dictionary word hattur (hat)?
First, because it comes after með, we need the accusative form. The masculine word hattur loses its -ur ending to become hatt. Then, we add the masculine accusative definite article ('the'), which is -inn. Put them together and you get hattinn (the hat).
What is the base form of sólgleraugun (the sunglasses) and why does it end in -n?
The base word is sólgleraugu (sunglasses), which is a neuter plural word. To say 'the sunglasses', we add the neuter plural definite article ('the'), which is simply -n for this word pattern, giving us sólgleraugun. Because it is a neuter noun, its accusative form looks exactly the same as its dictionary form.
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