Breakdown of Blaðamaðurinn skrifar fréttina sem ég les alltaf.
ég
I
alltaf
always
lesa
to read
skrifa
to write
sem
who / which / that
blaðamaðurinn
the journalist
fréttin
the news
Questions & Answers about Blaðamaðurinn skrifar fréttina sem ég les alltaf.
How is the word sem functioning in this sentence?
Sem is a relative pronoun, meaning "that", "which", or "who". In this sentence, it connects the two ideas and acts as the object of the verb les (read) in the second half of the sentence. A great thing for learners: sem never changes its spelling, no matter its role or what gender word it refers to!
Why does alltaf (always) come at the very end instead of before the verb like in English?
Why does the word for "the news" end in -ina here?
The base word is frétt (news), which is a feminine noun. Because the news is the direct object receiving the action of the verb skrifar (writes), it must be in the accusative case. The ending -ina is the feminine accusative definite article attached to the end, giving us "the news".
How is the word blaðamaðurinn put together?
It is a compound word made of blað (newspaper or paper sheet) and maður (man or person), plus the masculine definite article -inn (the) at the end. Literally, it means "the newspaper person", which is the standard Icelandic word for a journalist.
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