Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Henni finnst leikurinn spennandi, þó að hún sé þreytt. - She thinks the game is exciting, even though she is tired.

In Icelandic, verbs that express personal opinions, feelings, or sensory impressions often use an impersonal construction with a dative “subject.”

Henni finnst … literally means: “To her is found …” / “It seems to her …”
So henni is dative singular (of hún), because it’s the experiencer of the feeling, not the grammatical subject in the usual sense.

Compare:

Mér finnst þetta gott. – I think this is good / This seems good to me.
Honum finnst bíómyndin leiðinleg. – He finds the movie boring.

So using hún finnst would be wrong here; henni must be in the dative.

What’s the difference between finnst and finnur?

They are different uses of the same verb að finna, but:

finnur is the 3rd person singular, active, “normal” form:
- Hún finnur lykilinn. – She finds the key. (literal finding)
- Ég finn lykt. – I smell/feel a scent.
finnst here is the impersonal “seems/feels” meaning:
- Henni finnst leikurinn spennandi. – She finds the game exciting / The game seems exciting to her.

So:

Use finnst with a dative experiencer (mér/þér/honum/henni…) when talking about opinions or impressions.
Use finnur with a normal nominative subject when talking about literally finding, feeling, sensing something.

Why is it leikurinn (nominative with -inn) and not leikinn or some other form?

In Henni finnst leikurinn spennandi, leikurinn is the grammatical subject of the impersonal verb phrase:

The underlying structure is something like:
- Leikurinn finnst henni spennandi. – The game seems exciting to her.

Because it’s the subject, it goes in the nominative singular: leikur → leikurinn.

If you said leikinn, that would be the accusative definite form, which doesn’t fit this syntactic role here. So:

Nominative subject: leikurinn
Dative experiencer: henni

Is spennandi agreeing with leikurinn in gender/number/case? It doesn’t change form.

Spennandi is an -andi adjective derived from a verb (literally “exciting” = “exciting-ing”).

Adjectives in -andi are indeclinable in the predicative position in modern usage: they do not change for gender, number, or case.

So you get:

Leikurinn er spennandi. – The game is exciting.
Bókin er spennandi. – The book is exciting.
Myndirnar eru spennandi. – The movies are exciting.

Always spennandi, regardless of whether the noun is masculine/feminine/neuter, singular/plural.

What exactly does þó að mean, and why is it used here?

Þó að is a subordinating conjunction meaning “although / even though / though.”

Henni finnst leikurinn spennandi, þó að hún sé þreytt.
→ She finds the game exciting, although she is tired.

The first clause states a fact/opinion: she finds the game exciting.
The second clause introduced by þó að adds a contrasting condition: she is tired, but despite that, the game is still exciting to her.

You’ll often see:

þó að = although, even though
þótt (að) = very similar; þótt often used without að as well.

Why is it hún sé and not hún er after þó að?

After þó að (and þótt (að)), Icelandic normally uses the subjunctive mood when expressing contrast, concession, or something contrary to expectation.

hún er þreytt – she is tired (indicative, plain statement)
þó að hún sé þreytt – although she is tired (subjunctive sé)

The subjunctive sé doesn’t mean she might be tired; here it’s still a real fact. The subjunctive just marks the concessive relationship (“even though X, still Y”). This is a very common pattern:

Þó að veðrið sé slæmt, förum við út.
→ Although the weather is bad, we go out.

Using er instead of sé is understood but is considered less standard / less careful Icelandic in this kind of construction.

What is the form sé exactly?

Sé is the 3rd person singular present subjunctive of vera (to be).

Key forms of vera:

Present indicative: er – I am / he is / she is…
Present subjunctive: sé – used after certain conjunctions (like þó að, að, ef, etc.) and in various subordinate clauses.

So:

hún er þreytt – indicative
þó að hún sé þreytt – subjunctive (because of þó að)

Why is there a comma before þó að? Is it required?

In Icelandic, a comma is normally used to separate main clauses and subordinate clauses, especially when the subordinate clause comes after the main clause, as here:

Henni finnst leikurinn spennandi, þó að hún sé þreytt.

So:

Main clause: Henni finnst leikurinn spennandi
Subordinate clause (introduced by þó að): hún sé þreytt

A comma before þó að in this sentence is standard and natural. In modern, more relaxed writing, some people may drop certain commas, but keeping it is correct and recommended, particularly in learner-friendly Icelandic.

Could I change the word order, like Leikurinn finnst henni spennandi?

Yes. Icelandic allows some flexibility in word order. These are both grammatical:

Henni finnst leikurinn spennandi.
Leikurinn finnst henni spennandi.

They mean essentially the same:

(1) starts from the experiencer (“To her the game is exciting”),
(2) starts from the subject (“The game seems exciting to her”).

The first version (with Henni first) is very common for this type of construction. Changing the order might slightly change the emphasis, but not the basic meaning.

Why do we use henni but then hún later? Aren’t they both the same person?

They are the same person, but in different grammatical cases and roles:

Henni – dative singular of hún; used as the experiencer with finnst.
- Henni finnst leikurinn spennandi.
Hún – nominative singular; subject of the verb sé in the second clause.
- þó að hún sé þreytt.

So:

In the impersonal opinion construction, we need dative → henni.
In the normal “she is tired” clause, we need nominative → hún.

Would it be possible to use þótt instead of þó að here?

Yes. Þó að and þótt (að) are very close in meaning. You could also say:

Henni finnst leikurinn spennandi, þótt hún sé þreytt.

This is common and natural. Both þó að and þótt (að) typically take the subjunctive (sé) in this kind of concessive clause.

Can I leave out að and just say þó hún sé þreytt?

Yes, in everyday speech and informal writing, Icelanders often drop the “að” after þó/þótt:

Henni finnst leikurinn spennandi, þó hún sé þreytt.
Henni finnst leikurinn spennandi, þótt hún sé þreytt.

All of these are acceptable:

þó að hún sé þreytt
þótt að hún sé þreytt
þó hún sé þreytt
þótt hún sé þreytt

They differ more in style than in meaning; with “að” can feel a bit more formal or explicit.

How is þó að hún sé þreytt different from something like af því að hún er þreytt?

They mark very different logical relationships:

þó að hún sé þreytt – although she is tired → concession / contrast
- She is tired, but even so she finds the game exciting.
af því að hún er þreytt – because she is tired → cause / reason
- She finds the game exciting because she is tired (which doesn’t really make sense here).

So in this sentence, you need þó að because you’re saying “despite X, still Y,” not “Y because of X.”

Is þreytt agreeing with hún? How does that work?

Yes. Þreytt is the feminine singular nominative form of the adjective þreyttur / þreytt / þreytt (tired).

The agreement pattern:

Masculine: þreyttur – Hann er þreyttur.
Feminine: þreytt – Hún er þreytt.
Neuter: þreytt – Barnið er þreytt.

So in þó að hún sé þreytt, the adjective þreytt agrees with hún, which is feminine singular nominative.