Svarið olli mér vonbrigðum.

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Breakdown of Svarið olli mér vonbrigðum.

• svarið: the answer
• valda vonbrigðum: to disappoint

Questions & Answers about Svarið olli mér vonbrigðum.

What does Svarið olli mér vonbrigðum mean literally?

Literally, it means something like The answer caused me disappointments.

More natural English is:

• The answer disappointed me
• I was disappointed by the answer

Icelandic often uses a cause + disappointment structure where English would simply use disappoint.

What is svarið exactly?

Svarið is the definite singular form of svar, which means answer.

Breakdown:

• svar = answer
• -ið = the definite article for a neuter noun here, so the answer

So:

• svar = an answer / answer
• svarið = the answer

In this sentence, svarið is the subject.

Why does Icelandic use svarið instead of a separate word for the?

In Icelandic, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun rather than written as a separate word.

So instead of:

• the answer

you often get:

• svarið

This is very common in Icelandic.

What verb is olli from?