Af hverju er veðrið svona kalt?

to be

Breakdown of Af hverju er veðrið svona kalt?

• af hverju: why
• veðrið: the weather
• kalt: cold

Questions & Answers about Af hverju er veðrið svona kalt?

What does af hverju literally mean, and is it the normal way to say why?

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.

Why is the verb er placed before veðrið?

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.

Why is it veðrið and not just veður?

Because veðrið means the weather, while veður means just weather.