Ég fæ mér kaldan drykk eftir vinnu.

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Breakdown of Ég fæ mér kaldan drykk eftir vinnu.

• kaldur: cold
• eftir: after
• mér: me

Questions & Answers about Ég fæ mér kaldan drykk eftir vinnu.

What does Ég fæ mér mean in this sentence?

Literally ég = “I,” fæ = “get” (1st sg. present of fá), mér = “to myself” (dative). Idiomatically it means “I’ll get myself” (e.g. “I’ll grab myself”).

Why is mér in the dative case? Why not the accusative?

The verb fá requires a dative pronoun when it’s used reflexively as fá sér (“get for oneself”). For 1st person singular the reflexive pronoun is mér in dative, not accusative.

Why is kaldan drykk in the accusative and not kaldur drykkur or kalt drykk?

kaldur drykkur is nominative (“a cold drink” as subject). Here it’s the direct object, so both adjective and noun go to masculine singular accusative:
kaldur → kaldan
drykkur → drykk
Hence kaldan drykk.

Could you say kalt drykk instead of kaldan drykk?

No. kalt is the neuter form of the adjective. For a masculine noun like drykkur, you must use the masculine accusative form kaldan.

Why is it and not ?