# Icelandic: which



## 盲人瞎馬

Hello,

Is it possible in Icelandic to use the word "which" the same way it is used in english like in these examples?



> The men *from which *I bought the car.
> The situation *into which *you ended up...
> *Through which *door should I go?



If not, how should one write these phrases? It doesnt look like "sem" is "declinable" like that.

Thanks.


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## Segorian

1. The relative _sem_ cannot be used in the same way as ‘which’ is used in the quoted sentences. In modern Icelandic, the normal way to write the first two phrases is as follows:

Mennirnir sem ég keypti bílinn af.
Aðstæðurnar sem þú lentir í.​
In the third phrase, ‘which’ is used interrogatively, not as a relative, and the Icelandic version would be:

Gegnum hvaða dyr ætti ég að fara?​
2. It is possible to use the relative _hver_ (which does have an inflection) instead of _sem_. One would then write:

Mennirnir af hverjum ég keypti bílinn.
Aðstæðurnar í hverjum þú lentir.​
However, using _hver_ like this is somewhat old-fashioned, sounds unnatural in spoken Icelandic, and is only occasionally seen in written texts nowadays.


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## LurkingFox

@ Segorian: Interesting, it's very much like modern English then... Good news for me! ;-)


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## Nroach

Segorian said:


> 1. The relative _sem_ cannot be used in the same way as ‘which’ is used in the quoted sentences. In modern Icelandic, the normal way to write the first two phrases is as follows:
> Mennirnir sem ég keypti bílinn af.
> Aðstæðurnar sem þú lentir í.​
> In the third phrase, ‘which’ is used interrogatively, not as a relative, and the Icelandic version would be:
> Gegnum hvaða dyr ætti ég að fara?​
> 2. It is possible to use the relative _hver_ (which does have an inflection) instead of _sem_. One would then write:
> Mennirnir af hverjum ég keypti bílinn.
> Aðstæðurnar í hverjum þú lentir.​
> However, using _hver_ like this is somewhat old-fashioned, sounds unnatural in spoken Icelandic, and is only occasionally seen in written texts nowadays.



Is only _sem _used, or are the appropriate forms of _sá_ used?  I'm personally, hesitant to assume the former, but I don't think I've ever actually seen _sá _used.

_Hvaða _is indeclinable, too, isn't it?


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## Silver_Biscuit

Nroach said:


> Is only _sem _used, or are the appropriate forms of _sá_ used?  I'm personally, hesitant to assume the former, but I don't think I've ever actually seen _sá _used.



I don't know what you mean. Can you give an example of a sentence you are in doubt about? You can use _sá_ *with* _sem_ in these sorts of phrases, but then it just sort of replaces the definite article (e.g., þeir menn sem ég keypti bílinn af), it doesn't have any effect on the need for _sem_, so what is it you are talking about exactly?



Nroach said:


> _Hvaða _is indeclinable, too, isn't it?



Yep.


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## Nroach

Silver_Biscuit said:


> I don't know what you mean. Can you give an example of a sentence you are in doubt about? You can use _sá_ *with* _sem_ in these sorts of phrases, but then it just sort of replaces the definite article (e.g., þeir menn sem ég keypti bílinn af), it doesn't have any effect on the need for _sem_, so what is it you are talking about exactly?.



The exmaple buzzing around my head is:
"Ég mætti manni, sá heitir Magnús"


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## Silver_Biscuit

Ah, I see. That basically means: "I met a man, his name is Magnús" *not* "I met a man _whose_ name is Magnús".

Edit: Literally, it is "I met a man, that one is called Magnús" rather than "I met a man who is called Magnús", which would be "Ég mætti manni sem heitir Magnús".


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## Nroach

Silver_Biscuit said:


> Ah, I see. That basically means: "I met a man, his name is Magnús" *not* "I met a man _whose_ name is Magnús".
> 
> Edit: Literally, it is "I met a man, that one is called Magnús" rather than "I met a man who is called Magnús", which would be "Ég mætti manni sem heitir Magnús".


So, _sem_ would be appropriate to use in that sentence, but would yield a slightly different meaning?


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## Silver_Biscuit

Exactly!

By the way, the sentence you gave would not be 'normal' in colloquial speech, it sounds like it's from a literary source?


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## Nroach

Silver_Biscuit said:


> Exactly!
> 
> By the way, the sentence you gave would not be 'normal' in colloquial speech, it sounds like it's from a literary source?



It's from a song, rarely the best resources for grammar/constructions.

Takk!


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