Breakdown of Yfirmanninum ber að rannsaka meiðslin.
yfirmaðurinn
the supervisor
meiðslin
the injuries
rannsaka
to investigate
bera að
to be obliged to
Questions & Answers about Yfirmanninum ber að rannsaka meiðslin.
What does Yfirmanninum mean, and why does it end in -num?
Yfirmanninum is the dative singular definite form of yfirmaður, which means superior, manager, boss, officer in charge depending on context.
A few useful forms are:
- yfirmaður = a superior / manager
- yfirmaðurinn = the superior / the manager
- yfirmanninum = to/for the superior, or the superior in a dative construction
The ending -num is the definite dative singular ending here.
Why is yfirmanninum in the dative instead of the nominative?
Because the expression bera einhverjum að + infinitive uses a dative noun phrase for the person who has the duty or obligation.
So in this sentence, Icelandic does not structure it like plain English the manager investigates... Instead, it is more like:
- it falls to the manager to investigate...
- the manager is obliged to investigate...
- it is incumbent on the manager to investigate...
That is why you get yfirmanninum rather than nominative yfirmaðurinn.
What does ber mean here?