Einhver gleymdi veskinu sínu á borðinu.

Someone forgot their wallet on the table.

Breakdown of Einhver gleymdi veskinu sínu á borðinu.

• borðið: the table
• á: on
• gleyma: to forget
• sinn: their
• veskið: the wallet
• einhver: someone

Questions & Answers about Einhver gleymdi veskinu sínu á borðinu.

Why is einhver used here, and what exactly does it mean?

Einhver is an indefinite pronoun meaning someone / somebody (or anyone in other contexts).

• It is in the nominative case because it is the subject of the sentence.
• The verb gleymdi is 3rd person singular past, so it matches einhver:
  Einhver gleymdi … = Someone forgot …

English and Icelandic line up quite closely here: einhver ≈ someone as a subject.

Why is the verb gleymdi in that form, and what case does gleyma take?

Gleymdi is the past tense, 3rd person singular of the verb gleyma (to forget).

• Present:
  Ég gleymi – I forget
  Hann / hún / það gleymir – he / she / it forgets
• Past:
  Ég / hann / hún / það gleymdi – I / he / she / it forgot

Crucially, gleyma always takes the dative case for the thing forgotten:

• Ég gleymdi veskinu. – I forgot the wallet.
  (veskinu is dative.)
• Við gleymdum bókinni. – We forgot the book.
  (bókinni is dative.)

That is why veskinu (not veski) appears in the sentence.

Why is it veskinu and not veski?

The base word is veski (a neuter noun meaning wallet / purse).

• Veski – nominative/accusative singular, indefinite
• Veskið – nominative/accusative singular, definite (the wallet)
• Veskinu – dative singular, definite

In Einhver gleymdi veskinu sínu, veskinu is:

1. Dative because gleyma governs the dative.
2. Definite because we are talking about a specific wallet: the person’s own wallet.

So the grammar is:

• verb gleyma → needs dative
• noun veski in dative definite → veskinu

Why is the wallet definite (veskinu) when English says just “their wallet”, without the?

Icelandic often uses the definite form + a possessive pronoun, where English just uses a possessive:

• veskið mitt – my wallet (literally: the wallet my)
• veskinu sínu – his/her own wallet (literally: the wallet own)

So even though English only has their wallet, Icelandic treats this as a specific, known wallet, and that normally shows up as:

[noun with definite article] + [possessive pronoun]

Hence veskinu sínu, not just veski sínu in everyday usage.

What is sínu, and how is it different from hans or hennar?

Sínu is the reflexive possessive pronoun (from sinn, sín, sitt) in dative neuter singular. It means his/her/its own and always refers back to the subject of the clause.

• Einhver gleymdi veskinu sínu.
  = Someone forgot their own wallet.
  (sínu refers back to einhver.)

Compare with:

• Einhver gleymdi veskinu hans.
  = Someone forgot his (another man’s) wallet.
• Einhver gleymdi veskinu hennar.
  = Someone forgot her (another woman’s) wallet.

So:

• sinn / sín / sitt (here: sínu) → the subject’s own thing
• hans / hennar → someone else’s thing

Why is it sínu and not some other form of sinn / sín / sitt?

The reflexive possessive agrees with the noun it describes in gender, number, and case.

• Noun: veski (wallet) → neuter
• Case here: dative (because of gleyma)
• Number: singular

Dative singular forms of sinn, sín, sitt:

• masculine: sínum
• feminine: sinni
• neuter: sínu

Since veski is neuter, we must use the neuter dative singular form:

veskinu sínu
(neuter noun, dative singular + neuter dative singular reflexive)

Why is sínu placed after veskinu, instead of before it?

In Icelandic, possessive pronouns can appear:

1. After the noun, often with a definite article on the noun:

   • veskið mitt – my wallet
   • veskinu sínu – his/her own wallet
     This pattern is very common and natural.

2. Before the noun, usually without a definite article:

   • mitt veski – my wallet
     This is also correct, but the “noun + article + possessive after” pattern feels more neutral.

With reflexive possessives, the post‑position (after the noun) is by far the normal choice:

• veskið sitt, veskinu sínu
  Putting sínu before the noun (e.g. sínu veski) is not the usual way to say it in this kind of sentence.

Why is it á borðinu with dative, not á borðið with accusative?

The preposition á can take dative or accusative:

• Dative → location, being somewhere (static)
• Accusative → movement onto or into something

In this sentence the wallet is simply lying on the table, not moving onto it:

• á borðinu – on the table (location, dative)

If you used the accusative á borðið, it would mean onto the table, implying motion:

• Hann lagði veskið á borðið. – He put the wallet onto the table.

So:

• veskið er á borðinu – the wallet is on the table (dative)
• setja veskið á borðið – to put the wallet onto the table (accusative)

Could I say Einhver gleymdi veski sínu á borðið?

No, that would be ungrammatical and/or mean something else:

• veski sínu – wrong case; gleyma needs dative, and with the definite form it should be veskinu sínu.
• á borðið – accusative; that implies movement onto the table, which does not fit the meaning “forgot on the table”.

To keep the intended meaning, you need:

• dative for the forgotten thing: veskinu
• dative for the static location: á borðinu

Correct version: Einhver gleymdi veskinu sínu á borðinu.

Can á borðinu move to a different position in the sentence?

Yes, Icelandic word order is somewhat flexible, especially for adverbials like á borðinu.

Neutral:

• Einhver gleymdi veskinu sínu á borðinu.

With emphasis on the location, you can front it:

• Á borðinu gleymdi einhver veskinu sínu.
  → Emphasises on the table (e.g. “On the table, someone forgot their wallet.”)

Other orders, like:

• Einhver gleymdi á borðinu veskinu sínu.

are usually less natural; speakers typically keep á borðinu at the end or move it to the very beginning for emphasis.

How would this sentence change with different subjects (I, we, they, etc.)?

The verb and sometimes the possessive change, but the dative pattern stays:

• Ég gleymdi veskinu mínu á borðinu.
  I forgot my wallet on the table.
  (gleymdi, mínu for “my own”, dative neuter)

• Þú gleymdir veskinu þínu á borðinu.
  You (sg.) forgot your wallet on the table.

• Hann / hún gleymdi veskinu sínu á borðinu.
  He / she forgot his/her own wallet on the table.

• Við gleymdum veskinu okkar á borðinu.
  We forgot our wallet/our wallets on the table.
  (okkar is not reflexive; it’s used normally for “our”.)

• Þau gleymdu veskinu sínu á borðinu.
  They forgot their own wallet(s) on the table.
  (gleymdu plural; sínu still matches veski – neuter dative singular.)

In all cases:

• gleyma → dative
• veskinu → dative definite
• Possessive (mínu, þínu, sínu, okkar, ykkar) agrees with veski (neuter, dative singular).