Eru sjúkrabílarnir að stoppa vegna umferðarinnar?
Are the ambulances stopping because of the traffic?
Breakdown of Eru sjúkrabílarnir að stoppa vegna umferðarinnar?
vera
to be
að
to (infinitive marker)
stoppa
to stop (moving) / to stop (someone/something)
umferðin
the traffic
vegna
because of
sjúkrabíllinn
the ambulance
Questions & Answers about Eru sjúkrabílarnir að stoppa vegna umferðarinnar?
Why does the word for traffic, umferð, become umferðarinnar here?
The preposition vegna (because of) forces the noun that follows it into the genitive case. The base word is umferð. Its genitive form is umferðar. Since we are saying "the traffic" and not just "traffic", we add the feminine singular genitive definite article -innar to the end, giving us umferðarinnar.
How does the word sjúkrabílarnir (the ambulances) break down?
It is a compound word made of sjúkra (medical/sick) and bílarnir (the cars). Bílarnir is the masculine plural nominative form of bíll (car) with the definite article -arnir attached.
Why is it eru ... að stoppa instead of just using the verb stoppa?
Icelandic uses the verb vera (to be) plus að and the infinitive verb to show that an action is happening right now. Just like in English "are stopping", eru sjúkrabílarnir að stoppa means the ambulances are in the middle of stopping at this exact moment.
Is vegna the only way to say "because" in Icelandic?
It is used specifically for "because of" or "due to" when followed by a noun, which must be in the genitive case. If you want to say "because" followed by a full sentence (like "because the traffic is bad"), you would use the conjunction af því að instead.
Learn Eru sjúkrabílarnir að stoppa vegna umferðarinnar and more in Icelandic
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free