Breakdown of Þetta er fallegasta hverfið í borginni.
þetta
this
vera
to be
fallegur
beautiful
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
borgin
the city (f)
hverfið
the neighborhood
Questions & Answers about Þetta er fallegasta hverfið í borginni.
Why does the superlative adjective fallegasta end in -a here instead of -ast?
Because it describes a specific, definite noun (hverfið, the neighborhood). When a superlative adjective comes before a noun with the attached definite article, it uses the weak declension. For a neuter noun in the nominative case, that weak ending is -a.
If fallegasta is the weak neuter form, what would the masculine or feminine forms look like?
The weak superlative endings are very simple! For masculine nouns, the adjective ends in -i (like fallegasti bærinn, the most beautiful town). For both feminine and neuter nouns, it ends in -a (like fallegasta borgin or fallegasta hverfið).
Why do we use the neuter pronoun Þetta at the beginning of the sentence?
Why does the word for city (borginni) look different here?
Because of the preposition í (in). When í describes a stationary location (where something is located), it forces the following noun into the dative case. The word borgin (the city) becomes borginni in the dative.
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