Breakdown of Ég þekki rithöfundinn sem skrifaði söguna.
ég
I
skrifa
to write
þekkja
to know
sagan
the story
sem
who / which / that
rithöfundurinn
the author
Questions & Answers about Ég þekki rithöfundinn sem skrifaði söguna.
Why does the word sem not change to match the masculine noun rithöfundinn?
The relative pronoun sem (which means who, which, or that) is very easy to use because it never changes! It stays exactly the same regardless of gender, number, or case. Here, it acts as the subject of the second half of the sentence: the 'who' that did the writing.
Why do we use þekki for 'know' here instead of veit?
In Icelandic, þekkja is used when you are personally acquainted with a person, place, or thing. You use vita when you know a fact or a piece of information. Since you know the author as a person, þekki is the correct choice.
What is the dictionary form of rithöfundinn and why does it look like this here?
The dictionary form is rithöfundur (author), which is a masculine noun. Because it is the direct object of the verb þekki, it takes the accusative case, dropping the -ur. Then we add the definite article -inn to mean 'the' author, giving us rithöfundinn.
I remember the word for 'story' is saga. Why is it söguna in this sentence?
The word saga is the dictionary form. Here, the story is the direct object being written, so it must be in the accusative case, which changes saga to sögu. To say 'the story', we add the feminine definite article ending -na, resulting in söguna.
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