Breakdown of Kaupandinn vill skoða elsta húsið.
húsið
the house
gamall
old
skoða
to look at
vilja
to want (to will, be willing)
kaupandinn
the buyer
Questions & Answers about Kaupandinn vill skoða elsta húsið.
Why do we use elsta here instead of the strong form elst?
Because the noun it describes, húsið (the house), has the definite article attached to it. When an adjective describes a definite noun, we must use the weak declension. For a neuter noun like this, the weak superlative ending is -a, giving us elsta.
What is the base word for elsta? It doesn't look like the normal Icelandic word for "old".
The base word is gamall (old). Just like in English (bad -> worse -> worst), some common Icelandic adjectives change their stem completely when forming the comparative and superlative. So, gamall becomes eldri (older) and elstur (oldest). In this sentence, we use its weak superlative form, elsta.
What case is elsta húsið in?
It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb skoða (to view/inspect). For neuter nouns like hús, the nominative and accusative forms look exactly the same. Handily, the weak neuter adjective elsta also looks the same in both the nominative and accusative cases.
Why isn't there the word að (to) before the infinitive skoða?
The verb vilja (to want) is a modal verb that takes a bare infinitive. In Icelandic, you never use the infinitive marker að after vilja. You just say vill skoða (wants to view), similar to how you say "will view" or "can view" without "to" in English.
How is the definite article attached to the word kaupandinn?
The base word is kaupandi (a buyer). It is a noun formed directly from the verb kaupa (to buy). Because kaupandi already ends in a vowel (-i), you only need to add -nn to the end of the word to make it definite, resulting in kaupandinn (the buyer).
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