Word
Vélvirkinn finnur vandamálið í vélinni sinni.
Meaning
The mechanic finds the problem in his engine.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Vélvirkinn finnur vandamálið í vélinni sinni.
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
finna
to find
vélin
the machine (f)
vandamálið
the problem
Questions & Answers about Vélvirkinn finnur vandamálið í vélinni sinni.
Why do we use sinni here instead of hans for 'his'?
Sinn is a reflexive possessive pronoun, which means it refers back to the subject of the sentence. Because the mechanic is finding the problem in his own engine, we use sinni. If we used hans, it would mean he found a problem in a different man's engine.
Why is the pronoun in the form sinni?
The pronoun sinn must agree with the gender, number, and case of the noun it owns. Here, it owns vélinni (the engine), which is a feminine, singular noun in the dative case. The feminine dative singular form of sinn is sinni.
Why is vélinni in the dative case?
The preposition í (in) forces the following noun into the dative case when it describes a static location. Because the problem is located inside the engine (no movement is happening), í triggers the dative form vélinni.
Why does vélinni have the definite article '-inni' when we already say 'his' engine?
In Icelandic, when you place a possessive pronoun like sinni after a noun, the noun almost always keeps its definite article. The phrase literally translates to 'in the engine his own'.
Are (the mechanic) and (the engine) related words?