Double Dative Verbs
In Icelandic, most ditransitive verbs take a dative indirect object (the person) and an accusative direct object (the thing). However, a specific group of verbs requires both objects to be in the dative case.
A common example is skila (to return). Notice how both bókavörðurinn (the librarian) and bókin (the book) take their dative forms: bókaverðinum and bókinni.
| Have you not returned the book to the librarian yet? | Hefur þú ekki skilað bókaverðinum bókinni ennþá? |
Threatening and Causing: Hóta and Valda
Two everyday double dative verbs are hóta (to threaten) and valda (to cause).
| to threaten | hóta |
When threatened with a fine, both the person (mér) and the fine (dagsekt) take the dative case.
| The loan period is expired, and the librarian threatened me with a daily fine. | Lánstíminn er útrunninn og bókavörðurinn hótaði mér dagsekt. |
Similarly, if something causes inconvenience or disappointment, both the person affected and the result are in the dative case.
| to cause | valda |
| This causes me great inconvenience. | Þetta veldur mér miklum óþægindum. |
Notice how the irregular verb valda changes to ollu in the past tense for plural subjects:
| The results caused them great disappointment. | Úrslitin ollu þeim miklum vonbrigðum. |
Promising and Answering: Lofa and Svara
Verbs like lofa (to promise) and svara (to answer) also use the double dative structure. Promising someone compensation or answering someone with nothing strictly follows this rule.
| Despite the fact that the delay caused us disappointment, the company promised us compensation. | Þrátt fyrir að töfin hafi valdið okkur vonbrigðum, lofaði fyrirtækið okkur bótum. |
Here, lofa takes henni and trúnaði (both dative), while svara takes mér and engu (both dative).
| I promised her confidentiality, but she gave me no answer. | Ég lofaði henni trúnaði, en hún svaraði mér engu. |
Finally, here is a sentence combining valda and skila, maintaining the double dative structure in both clauses:
| The delay caused him inconvenience, but he returned the keys to the owner. | Töfin olli honum óþægindum, en hann skilaði eigandanum lyklunum. |