Breakdown of Stelpurnar hafa lesið um fræga kastala.
stelpan
the girl
lesa
to read
um
about
hafa
to have
kastalinn
the castle
frægur
famous
Questions & Answers about Stelpurnar hafa lesið um fræga kastala.
Why does the verb form lesið end in -ið instead of -t?
Because lesa (to read) is a strong verb. The supine form (the form used after the helper verb hafa) for strong verbs always ends in -ið. While weak verbs usually take a -t ending in this position, strong verbs like lesa get -ið.
Why are the words fræga kastala in the accusative case here?
The preposition um (when it means "about" or "around") always forces the words that follow it into the accusative case.
Isn't the plural ending for masculine words usually -ar or -ir? Why is it kastala?
The word kastali (castle) is a weak masculine noun, which means it ends in a vowel in its dictionary form. Instead of the standard plural endings, weak masculine nouns end in -a for the accusative plural.
Why does the adjective frægur become fræga in this sentence?
Adjectives must match their noun in gender, number, and case. Since kastala is masculine, plural, and accusative, the adjective frægur (famous) must also take its masculine plural accusative form, which is fræga.
As a quick refresher, how is the word stelpurnar (the girls) formed?
It is made from the plural noun stelpur (girls) with the plural definite article suffix -nar (the) attached to the end.
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