Question 1

Why does the sentence use til að fá instead of just að fá to mean "to get"?

Accepted Answer

In English, we often just use "to" plus a verb to express purpose (like "to get the job"). In Icelandic, when "to" means "in order to," you must use til að (or til þess að) before the infinitive verb. If you only used að fá here, the sentence wouldn't make sense to an Icelander.

Question 2

The lesson teaches til þess að, but this sentence only has til að. Are they the same?

Accepted Answer

Yes! til að is simply a shorter version of til þess að. They both mean "in order to" and are completely interchangeable, but til að is much more common in everyday, casual spoken Icelandic.

Question 3

Why do we use the preposition á with the verb mætir?

Accepted Answer

The verb mæta means "to show up" or "to attend." When you are talking about attending an organized event, a meeting, or a course, Icelandic pairs it with the preposition á (so you literally "show up onto" the course).

Question 4

What case is námskeiðið in after the preposition á?

Accepted Answer

It is in the accusative case. While á can take either the dative or accusative case depending on the context, attending or showing up to an event implies motion or direction, which triggers the accusative. Because námskeið (course) is a neuter noun, its accusative form with the definite article (námskeiðið) looks exactly the same as its dictionary form.

Question 5

What case is starfið (the job) in?

Accepted Answer

It is also in the accusative case, but here it is because it's the direct object of the verb fá (to get). Just like with námskeið, starf is a neuter noun, so its accusative definite form (starfið) doesn't change spelling from the nominative.

Konan mætir á námskeiðið til að fá starfið.

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