Við teljum blóm á kortinu til skemmtunar.

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Breakdown of Við teljum blóm á kortinu til skemmtunar.

• á: on
• blómið: the flower
• kortið: the map

Questions & Answers about Við teljum blóm á kortinu til skemmtunar.

What is the function of til skemmtunar, and why is skemmtunar in the genitive?

til skemmtunar is an adverbial phrase expressing purpose – it means “for fun.” In Icelandic, til used in this sense always takes a noun in the genitive. Hence skemmtun (entertainment, fun) becomes skemmtunar.

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Could we use til gamans instead of til skemmtunar?

Yes. til gamans is a very common alternative meaning “for fun.”

• gaman (“fun, amusement”) also appears in the genitive after til: hence til gamans.
• til skemmtunar is slightly more formal or literary, but they are interchangeable in everyday speech.

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Why is kortinu in the dative case, and how does á govern cases here?

The preposition á can govern either accusative or dative in Icelandic, depending on meaning:

• Dative after á denotes location (“on something”).
• Accusative after á denotes motion toward a surface (“onto something”).

Here we are talking about where the counting takes place (“on the map”), so we use dative: á + kortinu (the dative singular of kort).

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