Breakdown of Tölvan virkar bara í korter.
bara
just / only
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
tölvan
the computer
korterið
the quarter (of an hour)
virka
to work (to function)
Questions & Answers about Tölvan virkar bara í korter.
Why does the sentence use í to mean 'for'? I thought í meant 'in'.
While í often means 'in', when you pair it with a unit of time in the accusative case, it expresses duration, meaning 'for' that amount of time. So í korter translates to 'for fifteen minutes'.
Does korter literally mean 'fifteen minutes'?
It literally means a 'quarter' of an hour. In Icelandic, korter is the standard and most common way to refer to a fifteen-minute duration. Because it is a neuter noun, its accusative form here after í stays exactly the same as its dictionary form.
Can I use virkar to say that a person is working for fifteen minutes?
No, virkar (from the verb virka) only means 'to work' in the sense of a machine functioning or a plan succeeding. When talking about a person doing a job, you must use the verb vinna instead.
What is the root word of Tölvan and how is the 'the' attached here?
The root word is tölva (a computer), which is a feminine noun. To say 'the computer', you attach the definite article suffix to the end of the word. For feminine nouns ending in a vowel, you just drop the final vowel and add -an, or think of it as just adding -n, making it Tölvan.
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