Breakdown of Er sambýlið ykkar alltaf svona rólegt?
vera
to be
alltaf
always
svona
so, like this
rólegur
calm
sambýlið
the shared home
ykkar
your (pl.)
Questions & Answers about Er sambýlið ykkar alltaf svona rólegt?
Does ykkar change its ending to match the neuter word sambýlið?
No, it doesn't! ykkar means "your" (when speaking to more than one person) and is the genitive form of þið. Unlike singular possessive words like minn and þinn, the plural pronouns ykkar and okkar (our) never change their spellings to match the gender, number, or case of the noun they own. They stay exactly the same.
Why does ykkar come after the noun, and why does sambýlið have a "the" ending?
In Icelandic, the most natural word order is to put the possessive word directly after the noun. When you do this, the noun must have the attached definite article (the "the" ending, which is -ð here). So, sambýlið ykkar literally translates to "the shared home of you all".
Why is the adjective rólegt instead of rólegur?
Adjectives have to match the gender of the noun they describe. Because sambýli is a neuter noun, the adjective drops the masculine -ur ending and takes the neuter singular ending -t, becoming rólegt.
I've seen svona translated as "like this". How does it work in this sentence?
While svona often means "like this" or "such a", when you place it directly in front of an adjective, it acts as an intensifier. It translates perfectly to "so" or "this" in English. Here, svona rólegt means "this quiet" or "so quiet".
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