Questions & Answers about Af hverju er veðrið svona kalt?
Yes. Af hverju is a very common everyday way to say why in Icelandic.
Literally, it is made up of:
- af = from / of
- hverju = the dative form of hvað = what
So historically it is something like from what? or because of what?, but in normal modern Icelandic it simply means why.
A slightly more formal alternative is hvers vegna.
Because this is a question.
Icelandic usually puts the finite verb early in direct questions. After the question phrase af hverju, you get:
- Af hverju er veðrið svona kalt?
This is similar to English Why is the weather so cold?
In a statement, the order would be:
- Veðrið er svona kalt. = The weather is this/so cold.
So the question changes the word order.
Because veðrið means the weather, while veður means just weather.