Mér er kalt, þess vegna drekk ég heitt te.

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Breakdown of Mér er kalt, þess vegna drekk ég heitt te.

• vera: to be
• drekka: to drink
• kaldur: cold

Questions & Answers about Mér er kalt, þess vegna drekk ég heitt te.

Why does Icelandic say Mér er kalt instead of using ég?

Because this is a very common Icelandic way to express a physical feeling or state. Literally, Mér er kalt is close to To me it is cold.

For sensations like being cold, hot, in pain, etc., Icelandic often uses:

• a pronoun in the dative case: mér = to me
• the verb vera: er
• an adjective in neuter singular: kalt

This is the normal way to say I feel cold.

What case is mér, and why is that case used?

Mér is the dative singular form of ég.

Icelandic uses the dative in a number of expressions for feelings and bodily states, especially with words like:

• kalt = cold
• heitt = hot
• illt = painful / bad
• leið = bored

So mér er kalt follows a common pattern where the experiencer is in the dative rather than the nominative.

Why is it kalt and not kaldur or köld?