Breakdown of Vald borgaranna er mikið.
vera
to be
mikill
great, much (adjective: snjórinn er mikill)
valdið
the power
borgarinn
the citizen
Questions & Answers about Vald borgaranna er mikið.
How is borgaranna (of the citizens) formed here?
This is the genitive plural definite form. The base word is borgari (citizen). Its indefinite genitive plural is borgara (of citizens). To make it definite ("of the citizens"), we add the genitive plural definite suffix -nna, giving us borgaranna. A handy trick for your current lesson: all noun genders use -nna (or -anna) for the definite genitive plural!
Why don't we need a word for "of" between vald and borgaranna?
In Icelandic, possession and "of" relationships are built directly into the word endings using the genitive case. Because borgaranna is already in the genitive case, it automatically carries the meaning "of the citizens". Placing it directly after vald (power) translates to "the power of the citizens".
Why does the sentence use mikið instead of mikill?
Adjectives always have to match the core noun they describe. Here, "great" describes vald (power), not the citizens. Vald is a neuter noun in the nominative singular, so the adjective takes the neuter singular form mikið.
Does borgari have anything to do with the word borg (city)?
Yes, exactly! Borg means "city", and adding the suffix -ari creates a noun for a person who belongs to that place (very similar to "-er" in English, like "Londoner"). So a borgari is literally a "city-dweller" or "citizen".
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