Word
Veistu hvort hún fór með leigubíl eða lest?
Meaning
Do you know whether she went by taxi or by train?
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Veistu hvort hún fór með leigubíl eða lest?
Why does the sentence use með to mean 'by'?
In Icelandic, með doesn't just mean 'with'. When you talk about using a tool or a mode of transport, you use með to mean 'by means of' or simply 'by'.
Are leigubíl and lest in the dative case here?
Yes! When með is used for tools and transport, it forces the following noun into the dative case. The masculine word leigubíll (taxi) drops its extra L to become leigubíl in the dative. The feminine word lest (train) is also in the dative, but its form doesn't change from the dictionary form.
Why is it veistu instead of veist þú?
It is very common in spoken and informal Icelandic for the pronoun þú (you) to merge with the verb in questions. The letter þ is dropped, turning veist þú into the single word veistu.
Could I use ef instead of hvort here?
No, because hvort is used for indirect questions or when presenting a choice between alternatives (taxi or train), exactly like 'whether' in English. You use ef only for conditional statements, like 'I will take a taxi if it rains'.