{"id":5389,"date":"2017-03-20T16:11:19","date_gmt":"2017-03-20T16:11:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/?p=5389"},"modified":"2017-03-20T16:28:31","modified_gmt":"2017-03-20T16:28:31","slug":"lets-get-up-close-and-personal-with-impersonal-verbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/2017\/03\/20\/lets-get-up-close-and-personal-with-impersonal-verbs\/","title":{"rendered":"Let&#8217;s Get Up Close And Personal With Impersonal Verbs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Impersonal verbs are not unique to Icelandic (e.g., German \u201cmir ist kalt\u201d [to me it is cold] rather than \u201cich bin kalt\u201d [I am cold]), but they are perhaps comparatively common. <em>Impersonal <\/em>in this case means that the subject of the sentence is the recipient of the action, instead of the do-er. The predicate is often in the nominative case, which makes it appear to be the <em>grammatical subject <\/em>(most commonly, an implied \u201cit\u201d). It can be hard to wrap your mind around a sentence in which <em>you<\/em>, the speaker, aren\u2019t the do-er, but it\u2019s by no means impossible.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, though there are manifold impersonal verbs in Icelandic, there are a few very commonly used ones that are easy to remember. The keys to the kingdom are:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>\u00a0the subject is in accusative or dative. Which means that the subject isn\u2019t the do-er, but the receiver or the perceiver.<\/li>\n<li>you don\u2019t decline the verb as you would normally (e.g., \u00e9g tala, \u00fe\u00fa talar, vi\u00f0 t\u00f6lum) because the verb is <strong><u>always in the third person<\/u><\/strong><\/li>\n<li>\u00a0the predicate is either in nominative case or accusative case. If the subject is in the accusative case, then the predicate is in accusative case. If dative, then it\u2019ll have a nominative predicate.<\/li>\n<li>Impersonal verbs in Icelandic are usually used to express <em>ideas, feelings, <\/em>and <em>mental\/emotional states<\/em>\u2026and food-related stuff, like hunger and thirst.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5390\" style=\"width: 937px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter post-item__attachment\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5390\" class=\"wp-image-5390 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/03\/Dagsson.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"927\" height=\"316\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/03\/Dagsson.png 927w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/03\/Dagsson-350x119.png 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/03\/Dagsson-768x262.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 927px) 100vw, 927px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-5390\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">https:\/\/www.hugi.is\/media\/contentimages\/100146.jpg. <em>Copyright: Hugleikur\u00a0Dagsson.<\/em><strong> Underline added.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>So lets take a look at verbs in which the subject is in the <strong><u>accusative case<\/u>: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Dreyma<\/strong>: to dream\n<ul>\n<li>Mig dreymdi skr\u00fdtinn draum \u00ed n\u00f3tt<\/li>\n<li>Mig dreymir oft skr\u00fdtnir draumar<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Gruna<\/strong> (suspect)\n<ul>\n<li>Mig grunar<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Langa\/langa\u00a0\u00ed<\/strong> (to want)\n<ul>\n<li>Mig langar a\u00f0 eiga \u00fe\u00fasund l\u00edf (I want to have a thousand lives)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Vanta<\/strong> (to need; something is lacking)\n<ul>\n<li>Mig vantar pening (I need money)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Minna<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Hana minnir a\u00f0 \u00e9g tala \u00edslensku (She remembers I speak Icelandic)<\/li>\n<li>\u00deig minnir a\u00f0 skrifa ritger\u00f0ina. (You remember to write the essay)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Svengja<\/strong> (be hungry)\n<ul>\n<li>Egil svengir<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>\u00deyrsta<\/strong> (be thirsty)\n<ul>\n<li>\u00c1stu \u00feyrstir<\/li>\n<li>Mig \u00feyrstir \u00ed \u00e6vint\u00fdri (I thirst for adventure!)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Svima<\/strong> (get dizzy)\n<ul>\n<li>Mig svimar<br \/>\n\u2026 if something makes you dizzy, then \u201cMig svimar af tilhugsuninni\u201d\u00a0 (I\u2019m dizzy from thoughts\/ideas. \u201cTilhugsun\u201d is in the dative case here because \u201caf\u201d takes over and controls the case in place of the verb, and af is <em>always<\/em> dative).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Syfja<\/strong> (get sleepy)\n<ul>\n<li>Mig syfjar.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Verkja<\/strong> (feel pain)\n<ul>\n<li>Mig verkjar \u00ed f\u00f3tinn (my foot hurts)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Impersonal verbs that take the dative case: <\/strong>(so predicate is in nominative, but subject is in dative <em>unless <\/em>another verb or preposition comes into play)<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Breg\u00f0a<\/strong> (be startled, be shocked)\n<ul>\n<li>M\u00f6mmu m\u00edna br\u00e1 \u00feegar h\u00fan t\u00f3k eftir n\u00fdju h\u00e1rgrei\u00f0sluna m\u00edna (Mom was shocked when she noticed my new haircut)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Finnast<\/strong> (to find something, to opine, to think)\n<ul>\n<li>M\u00e9r finnst b\u00f3kin lei\u00f0inleg (I found the book boring)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Lei\u00f0ast<\/strong> (be bored)\n<ul>\n<li>M\u00e9r lei\u00f0ast (I\u2019m bored)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>L\u00edka <\/strong>(to like)\n<ul>\n<li>Honum l\u00edkar vel h\u00e9rna (He likes it a lot here)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Seinka<\/strong> (to be late, delayed)\n<ul>\n<li>Flugv\u00e9linni seinkar um tvo t\u00edma (the plane was 2 hours late)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>S\u00fdnast<\/strong> (to seem to be)\n<ul>\n<li>M\u00e9r s\u00fdnast \u00feetta vera fugl (It seems to me to be a bird)<\/li>\n<li>M\u00e9r s\u00fdnast \u00feetta ganga vel (It seems to me to be going well)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Takast<\/strong> (to succeed)\n<ul>\n<li>M\u00e9r t\u00f3kst ekki a\u00f0 kl\u00e1ra b\u00f3kina<\/li>\n<li>M\u00e9r t\u00f3kst a\u00f0 n\u00e1 pr\u00f3finu (I passed the test!)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Vir\u00f0ast<\/strong> (to seem to be)\n<ul>\n<li>\u00dea\u00f0 vir\u00f0ist vera draugur (There seems to be a ghost!\/It appears to be a ghost! )<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>\u00deykja<\/strong> (to find)\n<ul>\n<li>This verb is a bit distinctive. The verb in this case can be either 3<sup>rd<\/sup> person singular (\u00feykir) or 3rd person plural (\u00feykja). That depends on what follows in the predicate.<\/li>\n<li>I\u2019ve read\/been told (see here <a href=\"https:\/\/bland.is\/umraeda\/ad-elska-eda-ad-thykja-vaent-um-thad-er-vandinn-\/6920285\/)\">https:\/\/bland.is\/umraeda\/ad-elska-eda-ad-thykja-vaent-um-thad-er-vandinn-\/6920285\/)<\/a> that the phrase \u201c\u00e9g elska \u00feig\u201d \u2013 which is in common usage \u2013 is an Englishism.<\/li>\n<li>The older phrase, and perhaps \u201cmore Icelandic\u201d is to say <em>M\u00e9r \u00feykir <strong>v\u00e6nt<\/strong> um \u00feig.<\/em> (or, if you\u2019re talking about your ex, <em>m\u00e9r \u00fe\u00f3tti v\u00e6nt um hana\/hann). <\/em><\/li>\n<li>Of course, you can<em> \u00feykir vel um <\/em>something, or <em>skr\u00edtinn<\/em> or <em>g\u00f3\u00f0ur<\/em> or <em>lj\u00f3tur<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li><em>M\u00e9r \u00feykja<\/em>\u00a0(3.p.plural.)\u00a0<em>\u00e1vextir g\u00f3\u00f0ir. \u2013 <\/em>I think fruit is good. Fruit is in the plural, so <em>\u00feykja<\/em> is in the plural. If you thought <em>the (singular) fruit<\/em> was good, you\u2019d say <em>m<\/em><em>\u00e9r \u00feykir \u00e1v\u00f6xturinn g\u00f3\u00f0ur. <\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There are a few other verbs that are both impersonal and personal.\u00a0They&#8217;re impersonal when they denote a condition &#8211; a bodily condition &#8211; and personal when a\u00a0<em>thing,<\/em> <strong>not a person<\/strong>, is in a particular condition\/state, is doing something, or changing in some way. So your disposition (\u00e1stand) can improve, but you yourself cannot.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>batna (to recover): <em>M\u00e9r batnar flj\u00f3tt<\/em> vs. \u00c1<em>standi\u00f0 batnar<\/em><\/li>\n<li>hitna (to get warm): <em>M\u00e9r hitnar\u00a0<\/em>vs. <em>Ofninn hitnar ekki<\/em><\/li>\n<li>k\u00f3lna (to get cold):<em> M\u00e9r k\u00f3lnar \u00a0<\/em>vs.\u00a0<em>Maturinn k\u00f3lnar<\/em><\/li>\n<li>versna (to get worse): <em>M\u00e9r versna\u00f0i veikin<\/em>\u00a0 vs. <em>Ve\u00f0ri\u00f0 versna\u00f0i<\/em><\/li>\n<li>l\u00ed\u00f0a (to feel, to be): <em>M\u00e9r l\u00ed\u00f0ur vel\u00a0<\/em>vs. <em>T\u00edminn l\u00ed\u00f0ur hratt<\/em><\/li>\n<li>vera kalt (to be cold): <em>M\u00e9r er kalt<\/em>\u00a0vs. <em>Maturinn er kaldur<\/em><\/li>\n<li>vera heitt (to be warm): <em>M\u00e9r er heitt<\/em>\u00a0vs. <em>Ofninn er heitur<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>List of impersonal verbs:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/gogn.ma.is\/kenn\/svp\/kennsluefni\/malfar\/oper.htm\">http:\/\/gogn.ma.is\/kenn\/svp\/kennsluefni\/malfar\/oper.htm<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Questions, comments? Drop me a comment.<\/p>\n<p>Best,<br \/>\nM<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"350\" height=\"119\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/03\/Dagsson-350x119.png\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/03\/Dagsson-350x119.png 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/03\/Dagsson-768x262.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/03\/Dagsson.png 927w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><p>Impersonal verbs are not unique to Icelandic (e.g., German \u201cmir ist kalt\u201d [to me it is cold] rather than \u201cich bin kalt\u201d [I am cold]), but they are perhaps comparatively common. Impersonal in this case means that the subject of the sentence is the recipient of the action, instead of the do-er. The predicate&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/2017\/03\/20\/lets-get-up-close-and-personal-with-impersonal-verbs\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":145,"featured_media":5390,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[91175],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5389","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-icelandic-grammar"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/145"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5389"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5389\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5400,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5389\/revisions\/5400"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}