Breakdown of Við teljum blóm á kortinu til skemmtunar.
Questions & Answers about Við teljum blóm á kortinu til skemmtunar.
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.
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.
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).
In Icelandic you count “on” a map, so the usual preposition is á.
- á korti = on a map
- í korti would more likely mean “inside a card” or “within a chart,” and is not used for maps.
Preposition choice often differs from English.
blóm is a neuter noun. In Icelandic, neuter nouns have identical forms for nominative and accusative in both singular and plural.
- Singular: blóm (nom) / blóm (acc)
- Plural: blóm (nom) / blóm (acc)
So blóm serves as the object in the accusative here without any extra ending.
The verb telja can mean both “to count” and “to consider/regard,” but context decides.
- “Við teljum blóm á kortinu til skemmtunar” clearly means “We’re counting the flowers on the map for fun.”
- You would need a different construction to say “consider,” often with a reflexive or passive: e.g. hann telst (he is considered).
In Icelandic the verb ending -um already marks first person plural, so you can drop við in casual speech and still know who’s doing it. For example:
- Teljum blóm á kortinu til skemmtunar.
However, using við adds clarity or emphasis, especially in writing or formal speech.