Breakdown of Viðskiptavinurinn verður reiður ef við breytum ekki planinu.
ekki
not
við
we
reiður
angry
verða
to become; will be
ef
if
breyta
to change
planið
the plan
viðskiptavinurinn
the customer
Questions & Answers about Viðskiptavinurinn verður reiður ef við breytum ekki planinu.
Why does ekki come before planinu instead of at the end of the sentence?
This sentence follows a rule sometimes called Negative Shift. Because planinu (the plan) is a regular noun, ekki is placed right after the verb and before the noun. If the object were a pronoun like því (it), the pronoun would jump in front of ekki, making the order ef við breytum því ekki (if we don't change it).
The English translation says "will be angry", so why do we use verður instead of mun vera?
The verb að verða literally means "to become", but it is also the most common way to express "will be" in the future tense, especially when talking about someone's feelings or a change in state. While mun vera is grammatically possible, verður sounds much more natural to an Icelander here.
Why is the word planinu in the dative case instead of the accusative?
The verb að breyta (to change) always forces its object to be in the dative case. The base word is plan (a neuter noun). In the dative case, it becomes plani, and when you add the attached definite article for "the", it becomes planinu.
How is the word viðskiptavinurinn built?
It is a fun compound word! Viðskipta means "business" or "trade" (from the word viðskipti), vinur means "friend", and -inn is the attached article for "the". So a customer is literally a "business friend"!
Why is the word for angry written as reiður and not reið or reitt?
Reiður is an adjective describing the customer (viðskiptavinurinn). Because vinur (friend) is a masculine noun in the nominative case, the adjective must match it. Therefore, we use the masculine nominative form reiður.
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