Question 1

Does sem mean 'who' or 'that' in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

It can translate to either! In Icelandic, sem is a highly versatile relative pronoun used for 'who', 'which', and 'that'. It never changes its form, regardless of whether it refers to a person (like rithöfundurinn) or an object.

Question 2

In this sentence, is sem acting as the subject or the object?

Accepted Answer

Here, sem is the subject of the second half of the sentence. It represents the author doing the action (skrifaði, wrote). Because sem never changes form, you have to look at the context to see if it is the 'doer' (subject) or the one being acted upon (object). Since the verb skrifaði directly follows it, sem is clearly the subject here.

Question 3

Why do we use the neuter word þetta (this) when referring to a masculine noun like rithöfundurinn?

Accepted Answer

When you introduce what something or someone is using 'This is...' or 'It is...', Icelandic always uses the neuter singular pronoun þetta (or það), regardless of the gender of the noun that follows. You only use the masculine þessi if it is acting as an adjective right next to the noun, like in þessi rithöfundur (this author).

Question 4

Why does bókina end in -ina instead of -in?

Accepted Answer

Bókina is in the accusative case because it is the direct object receiving the action of the verb skrifaði (wrote). The base feminine definite noun is bókin (the book) in the nominative case, but its ending changes to -ina when it becomes the object.

Þetta er rithöfundurinn sem skrifaði bókina.

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