sagnorð

Sagnorð, the Icelandic word for verbs, denote actions, processes or states and form the core means of expressing time, aspect, and mood in clauses. They are inflected for person and number and function as the finite predicate of a sentence. In addition, they participate in compound tenses with auxiliary verbs.

Morphology: Icelandic sagnorð are typically divided into strong and weak verbs. Weak verbs form past tense by adding a dental suffix to the stem, while strong verbs change the stem vowel in past forms. Verbs may be irregular and fall into various subgroups. All verbs have present and past tense forms, and many form perfect tenses with an auxiliary such as hafa (have) or vera (be).

Participles and voice: Verbs have a past participle used to form perfect and some adjectival constructions, and a present participle in -andi that can function as an adjective or noun. The passive voice is typically expressed with participles in combination with auxiliary or through periphrastic constructions; Icelandic also uses reflexive or modal forms to express modality.

Usage and syntax: Sagnorð select their complements and can take direct objects or prepositional phrases as required. They inflect for person and number in finite forms and for tense and mood in non-finite forms. The system includes many irregulars, making lexicon knowledge important for correct conjugation.