Íþróttir hjálpa mér með heilsuna og gefa mér orku.

Sports help me with my health and give me energy.

Breakdown of Íþróttir hjálpa mér með heilsuna og gefa mér orku.

• með: with
• og: and
• hjálpa: to help
• mér: me

Questions & Answers about Íþróttir hjálpa mér með heilsuna og gefa mér orku.

What does Íþróttir mean exactly, and why is it in this form?

Íþróttir means sports.
The base word is íþrótt (sport). Its nominative plural form is íþróttir, which is used here because:

• it is the subject of the sentence (the thing doing the action), and
• we’re talking about sports in general, not one specific sport.

So: Íþróttir hjálpa… = Sports help…

What case is mér and why is it used here?

Mér is the dative singular of ég (I).
The verb hjálpa (to help) in Icelandic normally takes the dative for the person being helped.
So:

• Íþróttir = subject (nominative plural)
• hjálpa mér = help me (dative)

You can’t say hjálpa mig; that would be wrong. It must be hjálpa mér.

Why is it hjálpa mér, not something like hjálpa heilsunni minni?

Both are possible, but they mean slightly different things:

• Íþróttir hjálpa mér með heilsuna – literally “Sports help me with (my) health.” Here, I am the one being helped, in relation to my health.
• Íþróttir hjálpa heilsunni minni – “Sports help my health.” Here, heilsunni minni (my health, dative) is grammatically the thing being helped.

The original sentence focuses on me and my experience: they help me with my health.