Hann pantaði aðra af því að þessi motta var of stór.
He ordered another because this rug was too big.
Breakdown of Hann pantaði aðra af því að þessi motta var of stór.
vera
to be
hann
he
stór
big
þessi
this (m/f)
af því að
because
panta
to order
annar
other, another; second
of
too
mottan
the rug
Questions & Answers about Hann pantaði aðra af því að þessi motta var of stór.
Why is "another" translated as aðra here instead of annan or annað?
Aðra is the feminine, accusative, singular form of annar (other/another). It is feminine because it stands in for the word motta (rug), which is a feminine noun. It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb pantaði (ordered).
Where is the word for "one", as in "He ordered another one"?
English often adds "one" to stand in for a noun, but Icelandic doesn't need an extra word. The pronoun aðra on its own contains all the grammatical information (feminine, singular, accusative) to make it clear that he ordered "another rug."
Why is "because" three words (af því að) here?
The English word "because" usually translates to the fixed three-word phrase af því að in Icelandic. It literally translates to "of that that," but you should just memorize it as a single chunk meaning "because."
Why isn't the adjective stór (big) declined to match the feminine noun motta?
It actually is! Adjectives must match the gender, number, and case of the noun they describe. Here, we need the feminine, singular, nominative form of "big." For this specific word, the feminine form (stór) just happens to look exactly identical to the masculine dictionary form.
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