finnast is the single most important verb for giving an opinion in Icelandic — it is how you say "I think," "I feel," "it seems to me." But it does not behave like an English verb at all. The person doing the thinking is not in the nominative case; they are in the dative. You never say ég finnst; you say mér finnst — literally "to-me it-seems." This page teaches the conjugation, but the real lesson is the syntax: finnast is the flagship dative-subject verb, and once you understand its frame, a whole family of Icelandic verbs (líka, þykja, langa) opens up.
Conjugation
Origin: the middle voice (miðmynd, the -st form) of the strong verb finna "to find." Auxiliary: hafa — mér hefur fundist "it has seemed to me." Because the grammatical subject is the dative experiencer and the verb agrees with the nominative theme, you will overwhelmingly meet finnast in the 3rd person (finnst / finnast).
| Principal parts | |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | að finnast |
| 3sg present | finnst |
| 3sg past | fannst |
| Supine | fundist |
| Person (of the nominative theme) | Present (nútíð) | Past (þátíð) |
|---|---|---|
| ég | finnst | fannst |
| þú | finnst | fannst |
| hann / hún / það | finnst | fannst |
| við | finnumst | fundumst |
| þið | finnist | fundust |
| þeir / þær / þau | finnast | fundust |
| Person | Present subjunctive | Past subjunctive |
|---|---|---|
| ég | finnist | fyndist |
| þú | finnist | fyndist |
| hann / hún / það | finnist | fyndist |
| við | finnumst | fyndumst |
| þið | finnist | fyndust |
| þeir / þær / þau | finnist | fyndust |
| Non-finite | |
|---|---|
| Supine | fundist (mér hefur fundist) |
| Imperative | — (an opinion verb with a dative subject has no natural command form) |
The dative-subject frame: mér finnst …
The core pattern is [dative experiencer] + finnst + [opinion]. The experiencer — the one with the opinion — takes the dative: mér (to me), þér (to you), honum (to him), henni (to her), okkur (to us), ykkur (to you pl), þeim (to them). The verb itself stays in the 3rd singular finnst and the opinion follows.
Mér finnst þetta mjög gott.
I think this is really good. (lit. to-me seems this very good)
Hvernig finnst þér myndin?
What do you think of the film? (lit. how seems to-you the film?)
Honum finnst íslenska erfið.
He finds Icelandic hard.
Notice there is no word for "that" and no separate verb "to think": the opinion is just stated. To English ears mér finnst þetta gott feels like "to me, this is good" — and that is exactly the right intuition. The dative marks whose perspective the judgement comes from.
Agreement: the verb tracks the nominative theme
Here is the subtle part that almost every textbook glosses over. The thing being judged is in the nominative, and the verb agrees with it in number. One thing → finnst; several things → finnast. The dative experiencer never changes the verb.
Mér finnast þau góð.
I think they're good. (the theme 'þau' is plural → finnast)
Okkur finnast þessir skór ljótir.
We think these shoes are ugly. (plural theme → finnast, plural adjective ljótir)
This is the reverse of English, where the verb agrees with "I/we" (the thinker). In Icelandic the thinker is sidelined into the dative and the opinion's object drives the agreement. Any predicate adjective also agrees with that nominative theme in gender, number and case — gott (n.sg.), góð (n.pl.), ljótir (m.pl.).
Past tense: mér fannst
The past of finnst is fannst (note: spelled identically to the 2sg past of the active finna, but here it is the opinion verb). Plural theme → fundust.
Mér fannst maturinn frábær í gærkvöldi.
I thought the food was great last night.
Þeim fundust fyrirlestrarnir leiðinlegir.
They found the lectures boring. (plural theme → fundust)
With a clause: "I think that …"
You can also follow finnst with a whole clause introduced by að ("that"). The clause is your opinion; the experiencer is still dative.
Mér finnst að við ættum að fara núna.
I think (that) we should go now.
The literal sense: "to be found"
Because finnast is the middle voice of finna "to find," it keeps a second, concrete meaning: "to be found / to turn up." Here it behaves like an ordinary passive-ish verb with a normal nominative subject.
Síminn minn fannst loksins undir sófanum.
My phone was finally found under the sofa.
finnast vs halda vs líka
This is where learners most need help. Icelandic splits English "I think" across two verbs:
| Verb | Subject | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| finnast | dative (mér) | subjective opinion / impression — "I feel / it seems to me" |
| halda | nominative (ég) | belief about a fact — "I think/reckon (and might be wrong)" |
| líka | dative (mér) | "to like" — mér líkar / mér líkar við |
Use finnst for taste and evaluation (mér finnst þetta fallegt "I find this beautiful"); use held for a factual guess (ég held að hann sé heima "I think he's home"). Saying ég held að maturinn sé góður would mean you are guessing the food is good without having tasted it; mér finnst maturinn góður means you have an opinion from experience.
Ég held að hún komi á morgun, en mér finnst hún ekki áreiðanleg.
I think (reckon) she'll come tomorrow, but I don't find her reliable.
Common Mistakes
❌ Ég finnst þetta gott.
Incorrect — the experiencer must be DATIVE, never nominative ég
✅ Mér finnst þetta gott.
I think this is good.
❌ Mér finn þetta áhugavert.
Incorrect — you need the middle-voice finnst, not the active finn (which means 'I find/feel' something physically)
✅ Mér finnst þetta áhugavert.
I find this interesting.
❌ Mér finnst þau góð.
Incorrect — the theme 'þau' is plural, so the singular finnst is wrong; a plural nominative theme forces the plural verb finnast
✅ Mér finnast þau góð.
I think they're good.
❌ Ég held þessa súpu góða.
Incorrect — evaluating taste needs finnast, not halda; halda is for factual belief and takes a clause
✅ Mér finnst þessi súpa góð.
I think this soup is good.
Key Takeaways
- finnst / fannst / fundist — the middle voice of finna; the everyday "I think / it seems to me" verb.
- The experiencer is DATIVE (mér, þér, honum …), never nominative — mér finnst, not ég finnst.
- The verb agrees with the nominative theme: singular → finnst, plural → finnast (mér finnast þau góð).
- Predicate adjectives agree with that theme too (gott / góð / ljótir).
- Use finnst for subjective opinion/taste, held (halda) for a factual guess.
- It also keeps the literal sense "to be found": síminn fannst.
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