Breakdown of Við sjáumst á áhugaverðum söfnum.
við
we
á
onto / on / in (static location) / on (a day of the week)
sjást
to see each other
safnið
the museum
áhugaverður
interesting
Questions & Answers about Við sjáumst á áhugaverðum söfnum.
Why does the adjective áhugaverðum end in -um?
It is agreeing with the noun söfnum, which is in the dative plural. When an adjective is strong (meaning it doesn't follow a word like 'the' or 'this'), its dative plural ending is always -um, no matter the gender of the noun!
Why do we use the dative case for söfnum here?
The preposition á triggers the dative case when you are talking about a static location, meaning no movement towards a new destination is happening. Since they are simply 'at' the museums, the plural word söfn becomes söfnum in the dative.
The singular word for museum is safn. Why does the plural dative have an 'ö' instead of an 'a'?
This happens because of a very common sound shift called U-mutation. Whenever the dative plural -um ending is attached to a root word containing the letter 'a', that 'a' gets pulled to an 'ö'. Therefore, safn + -um becomes söfnum.
What does the -st ending on the verb sjáumst do?
It changes the meaning of the verb to be reciprocal, meaning 'each other'. The normal verb sjáum just means 'we see' and would need a direct object. Adding -st creates sjáumst, meaning 'we see each other'.
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