Breakdown of Hver er vingjarnlegastur í innkeyrslunni?
vera
to be
hver
who / what / which (one)
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
vingjarnlegur
friendly
innkeyrslan
the driveway
Questions & Answers about Hver er vingjarnlegastur í innkeyrslunni?
I see "-st" in vingjarnlegastur. Is this a middle voice verb like we are learning in this lesson?
No, this is a common trap! While middle voice verbs end in -st, vingjarnlegastur is actually an adjective in the superlative form (meaning friendliest). The -st- here is part of the superlative ending -stur, just like the "-est" ending in English.
Why does vingjarnlegastur end in -ur?
It is agreeing with the question word hver (who). In Icelandic, hver triggers masculine agreement when asking a general question about a person whose gender is unknown, so the adjective takes the masculine, singular, nominative ending -ur.
Why do we use the dative form innkeyrslunni after í instead of the accusative?
The preposition í (in) governs the dative case when it describes a fixed location or a state (where something is). If it described movement into a place, it would take the accusative. Since the person is just being friendly in a fixed spot, we use the dative.
What is the dictionary form of innkeyrslunni, and how is the definite article attached?
The base word is innkeyrsla, a feminine noun. In the dative case, it changes to innkeyrslu. To say "the" driveway, we attach the dative feminine definite article -nni, making it innkeyrslunni.
What are the parts of the compound noun innkeyrsla?
It is made of inn (in or inwards) and keyrsla (driving). So a driveway in Icelandic is literally an "in-driving" place!
Learn Hver er vingjarnlegastur í innkeyrslunni and more in Icelandic
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free