Hann setur dökka úlpu á sig áður en hann fer út.

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Breakdown of Hann setur dökka úlpu á sig áður en hann fer út.

• hann: he
• setja: to put
• á: on

Questions & Answers about Hann setur dökka úlpu á sig áður en hann fer út.

Why is it “á sig” and not “á hann” at the end? They both mean “on him”, right?

Both literally mean “on him”, but they’re used differently.

• á sig is reflexive: it refers back to the subject of the same clause.

  • Hann setur dökka úlpu á sig.
    → He puts a dark coat on himself. (the subject hann is doing something to himself)

• á hann would usually refer to another male person, not the subject:

  • Hann setur dökka úlpu á hann.
    → He puts a dark coat on him (some other guy).

So here, because he is putting the coat on himself, Icelandic uses the reflexive pronoun sig, not the regular pronoun hann.

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What tense are setur and fer, and which verbs are they from?