Spurnarfornafnið

Spurnarfornafnið is an Icelandic grammatical term that translates to "interrogative pronoun." Interrogative pronouns are words used in questions to refer to people, things, or concepts without naming them directly. They introduce a question and stand in place of the noun or pronoun that would be the answer.

In Icelandic, the most common interrogative pronouns are hver (who/which - masculine/feminine), hvað (what), and hvaða (which - before a noun). Hver is used when asking about a person or a specific item from a group. For example, "Hver kemur?" (Who is coming?). Hvað is used for abstract concepts or when asking about things in general. An example is "Hvað gerðir þú?" (What did you do?). Hvaða is used before a noun to inquire about a specific item within a category, such as "Hvaða bók ertu að lesa?" (Which book are you reading?).

These pronouns function similarly to their English counterparts (who, what, which) but are subject to Icelandic grammatical rules, including declension based on case, number, and gender. Understanding spurnarfornafnin is crucial for constructing grammatically correct questions in Icelandic. They are fundamental elements of sentence structure in interrogative clauses.