Question 1

The present plural verbs drekka and sofa look exactly like the infinitive. Is that normal for strong verbs?

Accepted Answer

Yes! For strong verbs in the present tense, the plural forms (we, you all, they) are very straightforward. They do not have the tricky vowel changes you often see in the singular forms (like hann drekkur or hún sefur). Instead, they build off the base infinitive stem. For the third-person plural (they), the verb is identical to the infinitive: þeir drekka and þeir sofa.

Question 2

Why is the subject Þeir instead of Þau for 'They'?

Accepted Answer

In Icelandic, the word for 'they' changes depending on who or what you are talking about. Þeir is the masculine plural pronoun, meaning this specific group consists entirely of males, or refers to masculine nouns. If it were a mixed group of men and women, you would use the neuter plural þau.

Question 3

Is bjórinn in the accusative case here since it is the object being drunk?

Accepted Answer

Yes, it is. The verb drekka requires its object to be in the accusative case. For the masculine noun bjór, the accusative form happens to be exactly the same as the nominative form. Adding the masculine accusative definite article -inn gives us bjórinn (the beer).

Question 4

Why is there no pronoun before the second verb sofa?

Accepted Answer

Just like in English, you do not need to repeat the pronoun if the exact same subject is doing both actions connected by og (and). You could grammatically say ... og þeir sofa, but dropping the second þeir sounds much more natural.

Þeir drekka bjórinn og sofa vel.

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