Chinese (Mandarin)

Spanish

English

Hindi

Arabic (Modern Standard)

Portuguese

Bengali

Russian

Japanese

Punjabi

German

Javanese

Malay

Telugu

Vietnamese

Korean

French

Marathi

Tamil

Urdu

Turkish

Italian

Chinese, Yue / Cantonese

Thai

Gujarati

Chinese, Jin

Chinese, Min Nan

Dari

Farsi

Polish

Pashto

Kannada

Chinese, Xiang

Malayalam

Sundanese

Hausa

Odia

Burmese

Chinese, Hakka

Ukrainian

Bihari, Bhojpuri

Tagalog

Yoruba

Bihari, Maithili

Uzbek

Sindhi

Amharic

Fula

Romanian

Oromo

Igbo

Azerbaijani

Chinese, Gan

Dutch

Kurdish, Central

Kurdish, Northern

Kurdish, Southern

Malagasy

Lahnda, Saraiki

Nepali

Sinhalese

Chittagonian

Zhuang

Khmer

Turkmen

Assamese

Madurese

Somali

Marwari

Bihari, Magahi

Haryanvi

Hungarian

Chhattisgarhi

Greek

Chewa

Dakhini

Akan, Twi

Akan, Fante

Kazakh

Chinese, Min Bei

Sylheti

Zulu

Czech

Kinyarwanda

Marwari, Dhundhari

Haitian Creole

Chinese, Min Dong

Ilocano

Quechua

Kirundi

Swedish

Hmong

Shona

Uyghur

Hiligaynon

Mossi

Xhosa

Belarusian

Balochi

Icelandic

### Ditransitive Verbs: Accusative + Genitive

In Icelandic, some verbs take two objects: a person and a thing. While many verbs use a dative and an accusative, a specific group of verbs governs an **accusative person** (the one being asked or demanded) and a **genitive thing** (the thing being asked for).

Two very common verbs that use this pattern are **biðja** (to ask) and **krefja** (to demand).

{{item:1075065}}

Let's look at how to use this structure to write a rather demanding wish list to Santa Claus. The person we are addressing, **jólasveinninn** (Santa Claus), goes into the accusative case (**jólasveininn**). The abstract concepts we are asking for—such as **frægð** (fame), **náð** (mercy), or **vernd** (protection)—go into the genitive case (**frægðar**, **náðar**, **verndar**).

{{item:1075063}}

{{item:1075072}}

When you want to be a bit more forceful, you can use **krefja** (to demand). Notice how the things being demanded, like answers (**svör**) and justice (**réttlæti**), also take the genitive case (**svara**, **réttlætis**).

{{item:1075067}}

Another common phrase that uses this accusative + genitive structure is **að spyrja einhvern ráða** (to ask someone for advice). The verb **spyrja** takes the accusative person, and the noun **ráð** (advice) is in the genitive plural (**ráða**).

{{item:1075075}}

### Using Pronouns

You can easily swap out the person for an accusative pronoun, such as **mig** (me), **þig** (you), or **hann** (him). The thing you are asking for or demanding remains in the genitive case.

{{item:1075077}}

{{item:1075080}}

Ditransitive verbs (Accusative + Genitive)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Presentative and the definite suffix (þetta er, -inn, -in, -ið)

Singular pronouns and to be (ég er, þú ert)

Singular adjective agreement

Yes/no questions (ert þú…?)

Basic negation (ekki)

Plural pronouns and to be (við erum, þeir eru)

Group 1 weak verbs (-ar)

Group 2 and 3 verbs (-ir, -ur)

Information questions (hvað, hver, hvar)

Expressing opinions (mér finnst, mér líkar)

Expressing desires (mig langar)

Numbers 1 to 10 (einn, tveir, þrír)

Direct objects on indefinite nouns

Direct objects on definite nouns

Singular object pronouns (mig, þig...)

Plural object pronouns (okkur, ykkur...)

Directional prepositions (um, í, á)

Verb-second word order

Expressing intentions (ætla að)

Needs and wants (þurfa, vilja)

Middle voice verbs (-st)

Possessive pronouns (minn, þinn)

Dative case with prepositions (í, á, frá)

Definite dative nouns (-num, -nni, -nu)

Dative personal pronouns (honum, henni, þeim)

Plural nouns (-ar, -ir, -ur)

Definite plural nouns (-nir, -nar, -in)

Accusative plural nouns

Number agreement 1 to 4 (einn, tveir…)

Singular commands

Past tense of the verb to be (var, vorum)

Present continuous (vera að)

Strong verbs in the present tense

Weather and dummy subjects (það)

Invariable possessive pronouns (hans, hennar, þeirra)

Accusative possessives (minn, þinn)

Accompaniment (með)

Dative plural (-um, -unum)

Compound sentences (og, en, eða)

"This" in the nominative (þessi, þessi, þetta)

"This" in the accusative (þennan, þessa, þetta)

Accusative adjectives (-an, -a, -t)

Numbers 1 to 4 in the accusative (einn, tvo, þrjá)

Third-person reflexive pronouns (sig, sér)

The preposition "to" with the genitive (til)

Subordinating conjunctions (að, af því að)

Simple past of weak verbs (-aði)

Question words (hvernig, hvaða)

Physical possession (vera með)

Abstract possession (hafa)

Telling time (hálf, korter)

Plural commands (-ið)

The simple past tense (-di, -ti, -ði)

Possessive noun endings (-s, -ar)

Days of the week (á mánudaginn, á mánudögum)

Kveðjur — greetings (halló, bless)

Um mig — where I am from

Kurteisi — please, sorry, congratulations

Ability and knowing how (kunna að)

Permission (mega)

Obligation (eiga að)

Plural strong verbs

Numbers 11 to 20 (ellefu, tólf...)

Counting by tens to 100 (þrjátíu, fjörutíu...)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (fyrsti, annar...)

All / everything / everyone (allur)

The indefinite pronoun someone (einhver)

The indefinite pronoun no one (enginn)

Compound numbers from 21 (tuttugu og)

This in the dative singular (þessum, þessari, þessu)

These in the dative plural (þessum)

My and your in the dative (mínum, þínum)

Numbers 1 to 4 in the dative (einum, tveimur)

Adjectives in the dative singular (-um, -ri, -u)

Adjectives in the dative plural (-um)

Reflexive possessive in the accusative (sinn, sína, sitt)

Reflexive possessive in the dative (sínum, sinni)

Reflexive versus regular possessives (sinn, hans)

Demonstrative plural (þessir, þessar, þessi)

Definite genitive singular (-sins, -arinnar)

Indefinite genitive plural (-a)

Definite genitive plural (-anna)

Genitive prepositions (án, milli, vegna)

Prepositions of direction (yfir, undir, fyrir)

Prepositions of static location (yfir, undir, fyrir)

Question	Answer
the wish list	óskalistinn
the Santa Claus	jólasveinninn
the fame	frægðin
My wish list is strange because I ask Santa Claus for fame.	Óskalistinn minn er skrýtinn af því að ég bið jólasveininn frægðar.
the pushiness / the brat	frekjan
to demand (of someone)	krefja
the justice	réttlætið
The brat demands answers and justice from Santa Claus.	Frekjan krefur jólasveininn svara og réttlætis.
the prosperity (material)	velmegunin
How much prosperity you ask Santa Claus for!	En hvað þú biður jólasveininn mikillar velmegunar!
the mercy	náðin
the protection	verndin
We ask Santa Claus for both mercy and protection.	Við biðjum jólasveininn bæði náðar og verndar.
We do not demand answers from him because of this pushiness.	Við krefjum hann ekki svara út af þessari frekju.
the advice	ráðið
The children ask Santa Claus for advice about the wish list.	Börnin spyrja jólasveininn ráða um óskalistann.
Santa Claus asks the child for mercy.	Jólasveinninn biður barnið náðar.
I only ask you for prosperity and justice.	Ég bið þig bara velmegunar og réttlætis.
She demands protection from the teacher.	Hún krefur kennarann verndar.
They demand fame from me but they get nothing.	Þau krefja mig frægðar en þau fá ekkert.
I demand answers from him and ask him for advice.	Ég kref hann svara og spyr hann ráða.