Causal preposition of state (af)

Expressing Cause with af

To express the physical or emotional cause of a reaction—like blushing with shame or trembling with excitement—use the preposition af (from, out of, with).

af always takes the dative case. Notice how hræðsla (fear) and reiði (anger) appear in their dative forms hræðslu and reiði:

The boy turned pale from fear when the dog barked.
Strákurinn bliknaði af hræðslu þegar hundurinn gelti.
I blushed with shame and anger.
Ég roðnaði af skömm og reiði.

Beaming and Trembling

Pair af with verbs like geisla (to beam) and skjálfa (to tremble). Here, stolt (pride) and spenna (excitement) become stolti and spennu:

Anna's face beamed with pride.
Andlitið hennar Önnu geislaði af stolti.
We trembled with excitement when the game began.
Við skulfum af spennu þegar leikurinn byrjaði.

Sounds and Physical States

This structure also applies to vocal reactions and physical states, like screaming, sighing, or sweating:

The man screamed in anger and pain.
Maðurinn öskraði af reiði og sársauka.
The woman sighed with relief.
Konan andvarpaði af létti.
The horse was wet with sweat and shivered from the cold.
Hesturinn var blautur af svita og skalf af kulda.

Using the Definite Article

When the cause has a definite article, the attached article also takes the dative case. For example, öfundin (the envy) becomes öfundinni, and stoltið (the pride) becomes stoltinu:

The teacher cries from the pride but the student cries from the envy.
Kennarinn grætur af stoltinu en nemandinn grætur af öfundinni.
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