Word
Ég bý á þessari götu.
Meaning
I live on this street.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Ég bý á þessari götu.
ég
I
á
onto / on / in (static location) / on (a day of the week)
þessi
this (m/f)
búa
to live (in a place), to dwell
Questions & Answers about Ég bý á þessari götu.
Why do we use the dative form þessari here instead of þessi?
The preposition á takes the dative case when it describes a stationary location, like where you live. Since gata (street) is a feminine noun, the demonstrative pronoun þessi (this) must change to its feminine dative form, which is þessari.
What is the dictionary form of the phrase þessari götu?
The base (nominative) form is þessi gata. When the sentence requires the dative case, both the pronoun and the noun must change to match in gender, number, and case.
How does the word gata change into götu?
Feminine nouns that end in -a are weak nouns, meaning their ending changes to -u in the accusative, dative, and genitive singular cases. Adding that -u ending triggers a vowel shift where the root a changes to ö, turning gata into götu.
Why do we use the preposition á instead of í for living somewhere?
Just like in English, you live 'on' a street (á), but you live 'in' a town, city, or country (í). Both prepositions take the dative case when you are talking about a fixed location where an action is happening.