Mér er illt í tönninni þegar ég drekk kaffi.

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Breakdown of Mér er illt í tönninni þegar ég drekk kaffi.

• vera: to be
• drekka: to drink
• í: in

Questions & Answers about Mér er illt í tönninni þegar ég drekk kaffi.

Why is it mér and not ég?

Because this is an impersonal Icelandic expression.

In English, we usually say something like my tooth hurts. In Icelandic, a very common pattern is:

mér er illt = I am in pain / it hurts

Here, the person experiencing the pain is put in the dative case, so ég becomes mér.

So:

• ég = I (nominative)
• mér = to me / for me (dative)

This same pattern appears in other common expressions:

• Mér er kalt. = I am cold.
• Honum er heitt. = He is hot.
• Henni er illt í bakinu. = Her back hurts.

What does er illt mean here, and why is it illt?