Questions & Answers about Ég tek eplið frá afa úr kjallaranum hans.
Why does this sentence use both frá and úr to mean 'from' or 'out of'?
This perfectly shows the difference between the two! We use frá for a person or a general starting point (from grandpa), but we use úr when physically moving something out of a 3D space, enclosure, or container (out of the basement).
Do both frá and úr cause the next word to change to the dative case?
Yes! Both of these prepositions always require the dative case. That is why afi becomes afa and the basement changes to kjallaranum.
How does the word kjallaranum break down?
The basic word for basement is kjallari (a masculine noun). Because of the preposition úr, it changes to its dative form, kjallara. Then we add the dative 'the' ending for masculine nouns, which is -num, giving us kjallaranum (out of the basement).
Why is hans at the very end instead of before the basement?
In English we say 'his basement,' but Icelandic normally puts the possessive word after the noun. Notice that Icelandic also keeps the 'the' attached to the noun, so kjallaranum hans literally translates to 'the basement his'.