Mér líkaði teið betur með kanil.

Because líka works differently from English like.

In Icelandic, the person who experiences the liking is often put in the dative case, not the nominative. So:

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

With líka, Icelandic is structured more like something pleases me than I like something.

So in this sentence:

• mér = to me
• teið is the thing that was pleasing/liked

That is why mér is correct here.

Because the verb agrees with teið, which is the grammatical subject.

Even though the sentence starts with mér, that is not the subject. The subject is teið (the tea), and it is:

• neuter
• singular

So the verb is also singular:

• teið líkaði = the tea was pleasing / was liked

This is a very common point of confusion for English speakers, because English would normally treat I as the subject in I liked the tea.

Líkaði is the past tense of líka.

Useful forms:

• mér líkar = I like
• mér líkaði = I liked

So this sentence is talking about a past reaction or opinion.

Teið means the tea. The ending -ið is the definite article attached to the noun.

So:

• te = tea
• teið = the tea

Icelandic usually adds the onto the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like English does.

Betur means better.

It is the comparative form of vel (well), but with verbs like líka, it is often used where English would say better or more:

• Mér líkaði það betur = I liked it better
• literally closer to It pleased me better

So betur is the natural word here, not meira.

Because Icelandic normally uses betur with líka.

English says:

• I liked it more
• I liked it better

Icelandic usually prefers:

• Mér líkaði það betur

So even if English might use more, Icelandic often uses better in this kind of sentence.

Með kanil means with cinnamon.

• með = with
• kanil = a case form of kanill (cinnamon)

Here it describes the tea: the tea with cinnamon or when it had cinnamon in it.

Because með usually takes the dative case when it means with in the sense of accompaniment or something added.

The dictionary form is:

• kanill = cinnamon

But after með, it appears as:

• kanil

So this is a case change caused by the preposition.

In normal understanding, it describes the tea: the tea with cinnamon.

So the idea is that the speaker liked the tea better when it had cinnamon in it.

In practice, English and Icelandic can both leave a little room for interpretation in phrases like this, but the natural reading is that kanil goes with teið.

That is much less natural.

The most natural order here is:

• Mér líkaði teið betur með kanil

Why? Because Icelandic usually keeps:

1. the experiencer first here (mér)
2. the verb
3. the thing liked (teið)
4. the comparative adverb (betur)
5. extra phrase (með kanil)

Word order can vary in Icelandic, but not every possible order sounds equally natural. The given sentence is a good standard pattern to learn.

The present-tense version is:

• Mér líkar teið betur með kanil.

So:

• líkar = present
• líkaði = past

Yes, you can, but it changes the meaning slightly.

• teið = the tea
• te = tea in a more general or indefinite sense

So:

• Mér líkaði teið betur með kanil = you are probably talking about a specific tea
• Mér líkaði te betur með kanil = more general, I liked tea better with cinnamon

You would usually put ekki after the verb or after the subject phrase, depending on the structure. A natural negative version is:

• Mér líkaði teið ekki betur með kanil.

That means the tea was not liked better with cinnamon.

A learner-friendly rule here is: ekki often comes fairly early in the sentence, after the finite verb.

In meaning, yes. But grammatically, not really.

A more literal breakdown is something like:

• To me, the tea pleased better with cinnamon

That sounds strange in English, but it helps explain the Icelandic grammar:

• experiencer in dative: mér
• thing liked as subject: teið
• comparative adverb: betur

This is one of the most important structural differences to notice with líka.