# Icelandic: The time has come



## ShakeyX

Okay so I've raped these forums enough and have decided I should try and make the cross over. I'm just going to stream some random shit off the top off my head and I would appreciate if anyone could take a look over and correct anything they find either wrong or just strange in the context.

So...

Góðan daginn! Ég heiti Jake og ég er frá Englandi. Núna er ég búinn að búa hér á íslandi í sjö mánuði og í þessum tíma hefur ég verið að vinna hjá myndafyrirtæki sem heitir "xxx". Mér finnst það gott að vera hér og þegar ég er búinn að klára skóla vil ég koma aftur til Íslands. Eitt/Ein stærstu ástæðnanna/eitt af stærstu ástæðunum_ (confused about definite article here also) _er tungumálið. Á Englandi læra ég rafmagnsverkfræði (should be Electrical Engineering) en ef ég kem aftur til Íslands langar mig að búa til tónlist á meðan held ég áfram að vinna hja "xxx".


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## Silver_Biscuit

ShakeyX said:


> Góðan daginn! Ég heiti Jake og ég er frá Englandi. Núna er ég búinn að búa hér á Íslandi í sjö mánuði og í þessum tíma hef ég verið að vinna hjá myndafyrirtæki sem heitir "xxx". Mér finnst það gott að vera hér og þegar ég er búinn að klára skóla vil ég koma aftur til Íslands. Ein af helstu ástæðunum er tungumálið. Á Englandi læra ég rafmagnsverkfræði en ef ég kem aftur til Íslands langar mig að búa til tónlist á meðan ég held áfram að vinna hja "xxx".



I'm a bit apprehensive about "í þessum tíma", I think that means "in this lesson" rather than "in this time" and it ought to be "á þessum tíma". However, I'm not entirely certain about this.

P.S. Although tecnhically I believe this thread is what a moderator would call "beyond the scope of the forum".

P.P.S. I also have no idea what you mean by _myndafyrirtæki_. Is this what they call themselves?


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## Silver_Biscuit

Á þessum tíma ought to mean *at* this time, though, now I think about it, so scratch that - í þessum tíma should be right.


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## Alxmrphi

Also: læri*


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## ShakeyX

Whats the reason for using EIN in the construction EIN af helstu ástæðunum. Is it due to ástæð being female and should I always conform to the sex of the thing that I am saying "ONE OF".

Myndafyrirtæki was just a word I made up on the spot to mean "Film Company". Any other suggestions?


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## Alxmrphi

ShakeyX said:


> Whats the reason for using EIN in the construction EIN af helstu ástæðunum. Is it due to ástæð being female and should I always conform to the sex of the thing that I am saying "ONE OF".
> 
> Myndafyrirtæki was just a word I made up on the spot to mean "Film Company". Any other suggestions?


1) yep
2) kvikmyndafyrirtæki


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## Nemabrincar

> Góðan daginn! Ég heiti Jake og ég er frá Englandi. Núna er ég búinn að búa hér á Íslandi í sjö mánuði og á þessum tíma hef ég verið að vinna hjá myndafyrirtæki sem heitir "xxx". Mér finnst það gott að vera hér og þegar ég er búinn að klára skólann vil ég koma aftur til Íslands. Ein af helstu ástæðunum er tungumálið. Á Englandi læri ég rafmagnsverkfræði en ef ég kem aftur til Íslands langar mig að búa til tónlist á meðan ég held áfram að vinna hja "xxx".



"*Í þessum tíma*" virkar ekki skomm. Það verður að vera "*á þessum tíma*". 

Mér finnst líka skrítið að segja *mynda-* og *kvikmyndafyrirtæki.* Er þetta eitthvað svipað og t.d. Saga Film og Pegasus? Oftast er það kallað *framleiðslufyrirtæki*, held ég. Það gefur reyndar ekki beint til kynna að fyrirtækið vinni með kvikmyndir en kannski er hægt að orða þetta öðruvísi. *Fyrirtæki sem vinnur við framleiðslu kvikmynda*..... eða eitthvað.

http://www.kvikmyndamidstod.is/innlendir-samstarfsadilar/islenskframleidslufyrirtaeki/

"*Í þessum tíma*" doesn't work. It has to be "*á þessum tíma*".

I also think it's weird to say *myndafyrirtæki* and *kvikmyndafyrirtæki.* Is it something similar to Saga Film and Pegasus, for example? Usually that's called *framleiðslufyrirtæki*,  I think. It doesn't really suggest that the company works  with films, but perhaps it's possible to phrase it in another way. *Fyrirtæki sem vinnur við framleiðslu kvikmynda*.....or something.

http://www.kvikmyndamidstod.is/innlendir-samstarfsadilar/islenskframleidslufyrirtaeki/


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## Alxmrphi

I had Pegasus in my mind when I read the company and I've definitely seen that called kvikmyndafyrirtæki on the net (i.e. here).
Good to know there is a better option to use now!


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## Nemabrincar

Já það er sennilega alveg rétt hjá þér, kvikmyndafyrirtæki er hægt að nota. Þetta er rugl í mér.

Yeah, you're problably right, kvikmyndafyrirtæki is usable. I'm just talking nonsense.


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## ShakeyX

This has all been extremely helpful.... þakka ykkur kærlega fyrir!

Regarding an earlier discussion on this strong weak adjectives coupled with the indefinite/definite...

Would it then also be possible to write... Ein af helstri ástæðum?


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## Silver_Biscuit

No, helstri is the singular feminine strong dative (not sure what is the correct order for all those adjectives!) so you can't match it up with a plural. If you had "ein af helstum ástæðum" I don't think that would really make sense, one of main reasons? You need the article in there, and therefore the weak form of the adjective.


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## ShakeyX

Sorry I used the singular rather than the plural by mistake, but if what you are saying is the case... which a superlative adjective, when is it EVER possible to use its strong form, as in the superlative, we are always talking about a single thing that is THE MOST, the BEST, the GREATEST, so this is going to imply the definite article (and therefore as you are saying, the weak adjective)


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## Alxmrphi

ShakeyX said:


> Sorry I used the singular rather than the plural by mistake, but if what you are saying is the case... which a superlative adjective, when is it EVER possible to use its strong form, as in the superlative, we are always talking about a single thing that is THE MOST, the BEST, the GREATEST, so this is going to imply the definite article (and therefore as you are saying, the weak adjective)



When you have attributive adjectives, where the adjective and the noun come under the same grammatical unit, is when you have the typical weak adjective and definite article on the noun. Remember though that in predicative adjectives, it doesn't matter if what comes before 'vera' is definite or not, the adjective you use after it is still strong. You get strong superlatives here.

_Hæstu verðin_ - The highest prices
(weak superlative + definite noun)

_Verðin eru hæst_ - The prices are highest
(definite noun + copula + strong superlative)


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## Silver_Biscuit

Yeah, you can be a superlative without mentioning that you are the best/fastest/worst _something_. You can simply be, for example, the best. 

Jón er *besti* fótboltaleikarinn í bekknum. Hann er *bestur*.


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## ShakeyX

Alxmrphi... Silver_Buscuit, from the bottom of my heart... þið eruð bestir.


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## ShakeyX

Okay just to close this for good... just as I posted that I saw on a magazine.

Helstu Spruningar Vísindanna - something like Scientists greatest/most important/main questions, right?

We have, Weak Adjective... Weak Noun, ITS WEAK ON WEAK.

Now I thought at first maybe it's because there is no "The", its just questions, not THE questions, so okay... but then why not use the strong, much like with normal (non superlative) adjectives where the strong is used for normal nouns but the weak with definitive. This seems to have flip reversed. Am i hitting every point, is this just the nature of the beast?

So its

Strong with indefinite
Weak with definite

then with Superative...

Strong when alone (used with a coupla)
Weak with a definite noun
ALSO weak with an indefinite noun?


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## Alxmrphi

_Vísindi_ = science (noun is neuter plural)
_Spurningar vísinda_ = questions of science (science's questions)
_[Helstu] [spurningar vísinda*nna*]_ = the most important/great questions of science (science's greatest questions)

The noun phrase "spurningar vísindanna" is definite.
You can't put the definite article after spurningar because it's part of a wider noun phrase. The definite article can only go at the end of the whole unit, which here it does.
It's a bit tricky, but does that explanation make sense?


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## ShakeyX

So my ALSO weak with an indefinite noun was infact incorrect and the reason for the weak noun is due to the fact the noun phraze involves the "THE". THE greatest questions of SCIENCE


so its like

Greatest (weak) - questions of science (definite)

So just to finish would it be possible to give me an example of the superlative with a weak noun.. is that technically possible?


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## Alxmrphi

> so its like
> Greatest (weak) - questions of science (definite)





> So just to finish would it be possible to give me an example of the superlative with a weak noun.. is that technically possible?


Superlative with a weak noun?
Silver_Biscuit's _besti fótbóltaleikarinn _is an example of a superlative with a weak noun.
I think you mean something else though.


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## ShakeyX

Sorry not weak... superlative with a indefinite article, is that an impossibility? just because superlative implies it is a definite thing?


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## Alxmrphi

ShakeyX said:


> Sorry not weak... superlative with a indefinite article, is that an impossibility? just because superlative implies it is a definite thing?


Icelandic doesn't have indefinite articles, but I presume you mean indefinite noun.
I do see your question now, though. Examples do crop up, but I believe they are pretty rare.
I just ran that query through a corpus and cherry-picked some examples for you from Alþing speeches:



> Í greinargerð með þessari þáltill. segir m.a. á þá leið að undanfarin ár hafi byggðamál og þróun byggðar í landinu verið talin með mikilvægustu úrlausnarefnum í íslensku samfélagi.


lit. _among most.important challenges_.


> að sú breyting mundi leiða til þess að Ísland yrði ákjósanlegasti staður í heimi fyrir fyrirtæki.


lit. _most_._preferable place in world_.
(dots connecting words are a common practice to represent multiple words in a translated meaning covered by one single word in another language).

These are rare and often just imply definiteness without needing an actual article.
I wouldn't worry about these at all. You have got the basic pattern down anyway. Don't look too far for things to confuse you because I guarantee you will find something.


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## Silver_Biscuit

ShakeyX said:


> Alxmrphi... Silver_Buscuit, from the bottom of my heart... þið eruð bestir.



Haha já við erum greinilega best en ekki bestir enda ekki tveir karlar heldur karl og kona


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## ShakeyX

Oh!!! shit, I apologize! I don't know why I presumed.

Okay so here it goes.

Sjáðu, þarna er nýr sími (Look, there is a new phone) Strong with indefinite
Sjáðu, þetta er nýji síminn minn (Look, this is my new phone) Weak with definite
Sjáðu, þessi sími er nýjastur (Look, this phone is the newest) Strong
Sjáðu, þetta er nýjasti síminn minn (Look, this is my newest phone) Weak with definite

Have i.. got it?


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## Alxmrphi

I do think you do, yes.


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## ShakeyX

Okay, I know we have boiled it right down to the bottom and there are some exceptions but I just saw this...

Stærsta fjölskyldumynd allra tíma tekin í kvöld

Can you just explain why THIS is not "Stærstu fjölskyldumyndina"... but instead using the Strong with the Indefinite, this is a case we have not discussed... why would this ever be used when ofcourse we want to say it is "THE" biggest family picture... why leave out the "THE" in favour of using the strong adjective... how can I decide?


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## Alxmrphi

> Stærsta fjölskyldumynd allra tíma tekin í kvöld


There is no finite verb in this sentence. What does this remind you of? Yes, news headline-style writing.
In that regard, loads of things tend to be skipped to save space. You could easily say in English (newspaper style) "Largest family photo of all time taken this evening".
It's fine without the article in English, but in normal English you have to put it in. Headlines often omit definite articles but that's to be expected.

"Stærsta" is weak nominative singular here.


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## ShakeyX

So in this case, it conforms to the rules of weak with a definite, its just the definite has been skipped?


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## Alxmrphi

ShakeyX said:


> So in this case, it conforms to the rules of weak with a definite, its just the definite has been skipped?


Exactly.
It's not uncommon for the weak adjective to imply definiteness.

Edit:
Here is an example I just noticed in something I was reading:


> Blóðkorn
> Rauð blóðkorn eru algengustu frumur í blóði. Þau eru disklaga, kjarnalaus, og sjá um að tengjast súrefni og koltvísýringi og bera það um líkamann.


Weak adjective, noun without definite article. Translated as: _the most common (type of) cells_.


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