# Icelandic: kemur skapinu í lag



## thegooseking

Hi, all.

The song _Hunangsdropar_ by Dýrðin contains the line:-

"Sólskinið og söngur fuglanna *kemur skapinu í lag*."

I have two questions about this.

1) Should it be 'koma' instead of 'kemur'? "Sólskinið *og* söngur fuglanna" is undoubtedly plural, but is it possible that she's saying (singing) that it's the _combination_ of the two things that does this, and would that be singular?

2) What would be a good English translation for "kemur skapinu í lag"? A literal translation would be "puts the mood in order", which we would never say in English, so I'm guessing it's idiomatic. I'm working with "puts a smile on my face", but I'm not sure how close that is to the original meaning.

Thanks


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## 'Islendingur

Hi. 
1. No. But,  "Sólskinið og söngvar fuglanna koma skapinu í lag" would obviously be in line with your thoughts.
2.Your idea works well. It is not close (literally) but the meaning comes across clearly. The first translation is very close, but like you say, is not heard in English.
Þór.


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## thegooseking

Thanks for that. I'm still not sure I understand the first point, though.

You would say "Jón *og* Magnús *koma* í vinnuna", not "Jón *og* Magnús *kemur* í vinnuna", right? So why "Sólskinið *og* söngur *kemur*..." and not *koma*?


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## Alxmrphi

In English there are times when you use a plural but 'is', when the association is similar, like 'Fish and Chips', thinks generally associated as 'one thing'...

What shall we get for tea?
I think fish and chips is a good thing to get.

That's how I'd naturally say it, so maybe there is a relationship between *sólskin* and *söngur* that means it's better to use the singular *kemur* rather than plural *koma*?
It's the only thing I can think of really that might be an explanation.


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## bjornl

actually i think thats a good question, because both sound very natural to me. i would go for kemur if i was speaking it but if i was writing it i'd say koma since you are talking about two objects


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## vedis

I would think it's the plural here because "kemur skapinu í lag" is a well known idiom in Iceland and it would sound silly to say "koma skapinu í lag" although that would be grammatically correct.

It is also very commen that you only take the latter word and use it's form be it feminine, masculine, plural or singular. This has been and is being studied by Icelandic linguists.


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## Alxmrphi

> It is also very commen that you only take the latter word and use it's form be it feminine, masculine, plural or singular.


Geturðu gefið mér nokkrum dæmum _(nokkur dæmi??)_


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## vedis

Alxmrphi said:


> Geturðu gefið mér nokkrum dæmum _(nokkur dæmi??)_



Nokkur dæmi is correct. 

You would say "egg og beikon er góður morgunmatur" not "eru góður morgunmatur".

"Er gott veður úti? Já það *er  *sumar og sól".

I can't think of any other examples at the moment but there are several. Sometimes I have to think it over before I write down and I'm born here and studying Icelandic at Uni so I understand if this can sometimes be difficult.


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## thegooseking

vedis said:


> You would say "egg og beikon er góður morgunmatur" not "eru góður morgunmatur".



This is interesting, because in that case the subject and object are completely interchangeable. You could say "egg og beikon er góður morgunmatur" _or_ "góður morgunmatur er egg og beikon". It would mean pretty much (if not exactly) the same thing, and in the latter case it's a lot more obvious that you should use 'er' and not 'eru'.

Is that right, or would the latter case be like saying there aren't any other good breakfasts?


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## vedis

thegooseking said:


> This is interesting, because in that case the subject and object are completely interchangeable. You could say "egg og beikon er góður morgunmatur" _or_ "góður morgunmatur er egg og beikon". It would mean pretty much (if not exactly) the same thing, and in the latter case it's a lot more obvious that you should use 'er' and not 'eru'.
> 
> Is that right, or would the latter case be like saying there aren't any other good breakfasts?



The latter would be grammatically ok but yes that would be more like a statement. "Hafragrautur er góður morgunmatur" "Nei, góður morgunmatur er egg og beikon" but still it sounds a bit silly.


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