Breakdown of Við gátum ekki eldað út af rafmagnsleysinu.
ekki
not
við
we
elda
to cook
geta
to be able to
út af
because of (+ dative)
rafmagnsleysið
the power outage
Questions & Answers about Við gátum ekki eldað út af rafmagnsleysinu.
Why is the definite article at the end of rafmagnsleysinu in the dative case?
The preposition út af (because of) always forces the noun that follows it into the dative case. Here, the base noun is rafmagnsleysi (power outage), and we add the dative neuter definite article -nu to make it rafmagnsleysinu.
Wait, doesn't geta (can) take an infinitive verb like in English? Why is it eldað instead of elda?
The verb geta is a special exception in Icelandic. Unlike other helper verbs, it requires the action verb to be in the supine form, which is the same form you use with the verb to have. So gátum eldað is structurally like saying we could cooked.
How do you break down a long compound word like rafmagnsleysinu?
It is built from rafmagn (electricity) and leysi (lack of). They are joined together with an -s- to make rafmagnsleysi. The -nu at the very end is the attached definite article in the dative case.
What is the rule for placing ekki (not) in a sentence with two verbs?
In a standard main clause, ekki goes right after the conjugated verb (in this case, the past tense gátum) and before the second verb (eldað).
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