|
 |
Icelandic question | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| mrpootys Groupie United States Joined 5611 days ago 62 posts - 69 votes  Speaks: English* | Message 1 of 3 17 April 2010 at 2:34am | IP Logged |
|
I just started studying icelandic and I have not got a feel, on when to use the indicative in the present and when to use að vera with the infinitive. I see them both used to denote present ongoing action. I see some phrases so far, that seem to always use the indicative and some that seem to always use að vera with the infinitive. for example
Eg er situr í stól Ég sit við borðið then,I also see- Ég sat við borðið to denote presently sitting at a table as well. Edited by mrpootys on 17 April 2010 at 2:50am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| egill Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5696 days ago 418 posts - 791 votes Speaks: Mandarin, English* Studies: German, Spanish, Dutch | Message 2 of 3 17 April 2010 at 8:53am | IP Logged |
|
Are you sure about that? In your third sentence, 'sat' is 1st/3rd past tense indicative of 'að sitja', to me it would seem to mean "I sat at the table". None of your sentences uses the 'að vera' construction you talked about either. That would be something like "ég er að sitja við borðið".
My impression is that the 'að vera' construction is akin to the English present continuous, i.e. I am sitting at the table, and denotes something that is going on this very moment. The vanilla present indicative is more open and can denote among other things future events, habitual events, as well as the present continuous. There is another construction which is maybe what your first sentence was going for which I think has a perfective, i.e. completive, aspect to it. It uses the copula with an inflected verb-derived adjective. Something like "Ég er kominn' meaning "I am come" cf. archaic English (and which cannot mean "I am coming"). Though your first sentence doesn't sound right to me but I can't really say why. But I'm only a beginner. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can shed light on this. Edited by egill on 17 April 2010 at 8:56am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| hvorki_ne Groupie Joined 5386 days ago 72 posts - 79 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Icelandic | Message 3 of 3 22 April 2010 at 12:07pm | IP Logged |
|
I agree that "Ég sit við borðið" would be "I sit at the table" and "Eg er situr í stól" to be "I am [?!] on the stool".
Why are you using "situr"? Situr is the second/third person present of "sitja". Shouldn´t it be "setið" or "að sitja"? (can never tell when to use the past participle) Edited by hvorki_ne on 22 April 2010 at 12:08pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
