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Sum börn eru félagslynd en önnur eru löt.

Sum börn eru félagslynd en önnur eru löt.
Some children are sociable, but others are lazy.
From Lesson 143:Some and others (sumir, aðrir)·Icelandic

Questions & Answers about Sum börn eru félagslynd en önnur eru löt.

Why does the sentence use sum and önnur instead of sumir and aðrir?
The lesson uses the masculine plural forms sumir and aðrir as the default, but in Icelandic, these words must match the gender of the noun they describe. Because börn (children) is a neuter noun, we must use the neuter plural forms sum and önnur.
Why do the adjectives félagslynd and löt look different from their dictionary forms?
Adjectives describe nouns, so they must also match the neuter plural noun börn. The dictionary forms are the masculine singular félagslyndur (sociable) and latur (lazy). To make them neuter plural, their endings change to match the children.
Why does the vowel change from 'a' in latur to 'ö' in löt?
This is a common vowel change in Icelandic called the U-shift. When a word with an a in the root takes certain endings (like the neuter plural form for adjectives), that a often changes to an ö.
Can we say önnur börn instead of leaving önnur by itself?
Yes, you could say önnur börn (other children). However, just like in English where we say others instead of other children, it is very common to drop the noun the second time around to avoid repeating yourself.

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