Breakdown of Stekkur hundurinn yfir hindrunina?
hundurinn
the dog
yfir
past / over, across
stökkva
to jump
hindrunin
the obstacle
Questions & Answers about Stekkur hundurinn yfir hindrunina?
Why is hindrunina in the accusative case here?
Because the preposition yfir (over) is describing movement across something to a destination. When yfir indicates active motion from one side to another, it forces the following noun into the accusative case. If the dog were just hanging statically in the air above the obstacle, yfir would take the dative case instead.
How do you break down the word hindrunina?
It is made of the feminine noun hindrun (obstacle) plus the attached definite article (the). Because the word is in the accusative case here, the correct ending for the feminine definite article is -ina, giving us hindrunina (the obstacle).
The infinitive for "to jump" is stökkva. Why does it change to stekkur in this sentence?
Stökkva is a strong verb, which means its root vowel changes when it is conjugated. In the present tense, the ö shifts to an e. Since the dog (hundurinn) is a third-person singular subject, the correct present-tense form is stekkur.
Why does the sentence start with the verb stekkur?
To form a yes/no question in Icelandic, you simply swap the subject and the verb. While English uses a helper word like "does" (Does the dog jump?), Icelandic just puts the main verb first: Stekkur hundurinn? (Jumps the dog?).