Breakdown of Hvar er rottan? Hún er undir teppinu.
vera
to be
hún
she
hvar
where
undir
under
rottan
the rat
teppið
the carpet
Questions & Answers about Hvar er rottan? Hún er undir teppinu.
Why does undir take the dative case (teppinu) here instead of the accusative?
The preposition undir (under) is a "two-way" preposition. It takes the dative case when describing a static location (where something currently is), and the accusative case when describing direction or movement towards a destination. Since the rat is just located under the carpet, we use the dative.
How can I tell that teppinu is in the dative case?
The base word for carpet is teppi, which is a neuter noun. To say "the carpet" in the dative case, you add the definite dative suffix for neuter nouns, which is -nu. This changes teppi to teppinu.
Why does the sentence use hún (she) to mean "it" when talking about a rat?
In Icelandic, you don't use a neutral "it" just because something is an animal or an object. Pronouns must always match the grammatical gender of the noun they replace. The word for rat, rotta, is a feminine noun (which we can also see in its definite form, rottan). Therefore, you have to use the feminine pronoun hún.
Could I use hvert instead of hvar to ask "where is the rat"?
No, because hvar and hvert have different meanings based on movement, just like the prepositions! Hvar means "where (at)" and is used for static locations. Hvert means "where (to)" and is used for direction. Since you are asking about the rat's current resting position, hvar is the only correct choice here.
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