Breakdown of Hjólin eru alltaf smíðuð úr stáli.
vera
to be
alltaf
always
hjólið
the bike
smíða
to build (craft, forge)
Questions & Answers about Hjólin eru alltaf smíðuð úr stáli.
Why does the word for built end in -uð here (smíðuð)?
This sentence uses the static passive, where the past participle acts like an adjective describing the subject. Because the subject hjólin (the bikes) is a neuter plural noun, the past participle must match its gender and number. The neuter plural form of smíðaður is smíðuð.
How do we know this is the static passive and not the dynamic passive?
The static passive uses the verb vera (here as eru) plus a past participle to describe a state or a result. If the sentence were describing the actual action of the bikes being built by a person right now, it would use the dynamic passive with the verb verða (to become) instead.
Why is the word for steel written as stáli instead of just stál?
The preposition úr (meaning out of or from) always requires the noun that follows it to be in the dative case. Stál is a neuter noun, and its dative form adds an -i to the end, making it stáli.
What makes hjólin plural if the base word hjól doesn't change?
The base word hjól is a neuter noun, and these often look exactly the same in the singular and the plural. However, the attached definite article gives it away: the singular is hjólið (the bike), but the plural is hjólin (the bikes).