Word
Hann notar gamla olíu í vélinni sinni.
Meaning
He uses old oil in his engine.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Hann notar gamla olíu í vélinni sinni.
hann
he
gamall
old
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
nota
to use
Questions & Answers about Hann notar gamla olíu í vélinni sinni.
Why do we use sinni here instead of hans?
Because sinni is a form of the reflexive pronoun sinn, which means his own (or her/its/their own). Since the subject is hann (he) and it is his own engine, we must use sinn. If the sentence used hans, it would mean he is putting oil into someone else's engine!
How do we get the specific form sinni?
The word sinn has to match the noun it belongs to in gender, number, and case. The noun vél (engine) is feminine, and it is in the dative case here because of the preposition í (in). The feminine, singular, dative form of sinn is sinni.
Why does the noun have the definite article (vélinni) if the translation just says his engine?
In Icelandic, when you use a possessive word like sinn (or minn, þinn), it almost always comes after the noun, and that noun must have the definite article attached. So, the sentence literally says in the-engine his.
Why does the sentence use gamla olíu instead of gömul olía?
The verb nota (to use) forces the object being used into the accusative case. Olía is a feminine noun, and its accusative form is olíu. The adjective for old has to match, so gömul changes to its feminine accusative form, gamla.