Learn Icelandic: Er þetta flokkur stjórnmálamannanna eða borgaranna? - Is this the party of the politicians or the citizens?

Er þetta flokkur stjórnmálamannanna eða borgaranna?

Is this the party of the politicians or the citizens?

Breakdown of Er þetta flokkur stjórnmálamannanna eða borgaranna?

Questions & Answers about Er þetta flokkur stjórnmálamannanna eða borgaranna?

Why does stjórnmálamannanna have so many n's at the end?

This is the genitive plural definite form of stjórnmálamaður (politician). The genitive plural of maður is manna. To make it definite ("of the politicians"), we add the genitive plural definite ending -nna. So, manna + -nna gives us the long -mannanna ending.

Why does borgaranna only end with a double "n" instead of a triple one?

The word for citizen is borgari, and its genitive plural form is borgara. When we add the definite genitive plural ending -nna to borgara, we just get borgaranna. The extra "n" in the politicians' word comes from its root word manna, which borgara doesn't have.

Why are these words in the genitive case instead of using a preposition for "of"?

In Icelandic, you usually express "of" or possession by putting the "owner" in the genitive case immediately after the noun they own. So, flokkur (party) followed by these genitive words means "party of the politicians" or "party of the citizens".

Why do we use þetta (neuter) when flokkur (party) is a masculine noun?