Breakdown of Sáuð þið hvar leiðsögumaðurinn og hópurinn fundu stíginn?
og
and
þið
you (plural)
hvar
where
sjá
to see
finna
to find
hópurinn
the group
leiðsögumaðurinn
the guide
stígurinn
the path
Questions & Answers about Sáuð þið hvar leiðsögumaðurinn og hópurinn fundu stíginn?
What verb is Sáuð from, and why is it at the start of the sentence?
Sáuð is the past tense plural for þið (you all) of the strong verb sjá (to see). Because this is a yes/no question, the verb moves to the very front of the sentence, so Sáuð þið translates to 'Did you see?'.
What is the infinitive form of fundu?
The infinitive is finna (to find). Because it is a strong verb, it doesn't take a regular past tense ending. Instead, the inner vowel changes completely. For finna, the plural past tense always shifts the vowel to a u, making it fundu.
Why is fundu in the plural form here if 'the guide' and 'the group' are both singular words?
Even though leiðsögumaðurinn (the guide) and hópurinn (the group) are singular on their own, they are joined by og (and). Together they form a plural subject ('they'), so the verb must take the 3rd person plural form fundu (they found).
Why does the sentence use stíginn instead of its dictionary form stígurinn?
Stígurinn (the path) is a masculine noun. In this sentence, the path is the direct object because it is the thing being found by the group. Therefore, it must change from the nominative (subject) form to the accusative (object) form, dropping the -ur- to become stíginn.
How is the long word leiðsögumaðurinn built?
Icelandic loves building vocabulary by joining smaller words together! This combines leiðsögn (guidance) and maður (person) to make leiðsögumaður (guide). The -inn at the very end is simply the attached definite article meaning 'the'.
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