Breakdown of Við gengum undir tréð hjá varðeldinum og útsýnið var gott.
vera
to be
og
and
góður
good
við
we
ganga
to walk
tréð
the tree
undir
under
hjá
next to / at (someone's) place, with
varðeldurinn
the campfire
útsýnið
the view
Questions & Answers about Við gengum undir tréð hjá varðeldinum og útsýnið var gott.
Why does the verb ganga become gengum here?
This is a strong verb, meaning it changes its inner vowel in the past tense instead of adding a regular ending. In the plural past tense, the vowel in ganga changes to an e, giving us the stem geng-. Then we just add the normal -um ending to match við.
Why is it undir tréð (accusative) instead of undir trénu (dative)?
The preposition undir takes the accusative case when it describes movement towards a destination. Because we walked to a new spot under the tree, we use the accusative tréð. If we were already under the tree and just pacing around in that one spot, we would use the dative form trénu to show a fixed location.
What case is varðeldinum in, and why?
It is in the dative case because the preposition hjá always forces the following noun into the dative. The base masculine noun is varðeldur, which means campfire, and the -inum at the end is the attached definite article.
Why is the adjective for good written as gott instead of góður?
Adjectives must match the gender of the noun they describe. The word útsýni is a neuter noun, so the adjective changes to its neuter form, gott.
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