Breakdown of Hundurinn sefur verr undir borðinu.
hundurinn
the dog
borðið
the table
sofa
to sleep
undir
under
verr
worse (adverb)
Questions & Answers about Hundurinn sefur verr undir borðinu.
Why do we use verr here instead of verri for "worse"?
Verr is an adverb, which means it describes an action. It is the comparative form of illa (badly), so it tells us how the dog sleeps. Verri is an adjective used to describe nouns (like "a worse dog"). Since we are describing the verb sefur, we must use the adverb.
Why is the word for "table" in the dative case (borðinu)?
The preposition undir (under) controls two different cases depending on the situation. It takes the dative case when describing a fixed location, like sleeping under a table. If the dog were moving to go under the table, undir would take the accusative case instead.
How does the definite article work in the word borðinu?
The base word is borð, which is a neuter noun. Because the preposition undir forces it into the dative case here, we attach the dative neuter definite article -inu to the end to mean "the table".
The infinitive of the verb is sofa, so why is it spelled sefur here?
Sofa (to sleep) has a vowel change in the present tense. For singular subjects like hundurinn (the dog), the o changes to an e, making it sefur. It changes back to o for plural subjects (like við sofum).
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