Question 1

Why is the verb þurftum used here instead of þurfum?

Accepted Answer

Þurftum is the simple past tense of the modal verb þurfa (to need to / to have to) for the subject við (we). Modal verbs in Icelandic often change their core stem in the past tense. Here, the present tense stem þurf- changes to the past tense stem þurft-, and then takes the standard við ending -um.

Question 2

Why do we need the word að before læra? Don't modal verbs just connect directly to the next verb?

Accepted Answer

Unlike some other common modal verbs like geta (can) or vilja (want) which attach directly to the main verb without a marker, þurfa strictly requires the infinitive marker að (to). It maps perfectly to English in this case: you say "we had TO learn", not "we had learn".

Question 3

Why does the word for school end in -num (grunnskólanum)?

Accepted Answer

This is the word grunnskóli (primary school) with two things happening to it. First, the preposition í (in) forces it into the dative case because it describes a static location where an action happened, changing it to grunnskóla. Second, the dative definite article -num is attached to the end to make it "THE primary school".

Question 4

Is mikið used for both "a lot" and "many"?

Accepted Answer

Mikið (much / a lot) is used as an adverb to describe how much an action was done, as it is here (learning a lot). It is also used with uncountable nouns (like water or time). If you wanted to talk about learning "many" countable things, you would use a form of the word margur (many) instead.

Við þurftum að læra mikið í grunnskólanum.

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