Emphatic Reflexive Objects
When discussing personal accountability—like justifying, deceiving, or forgiving oneself—you often need to emphasize the reflexive object. In Icelandic, you do this by pairing the third-person reflexive pronoun (sig/sér/sín) with the adjective sjálfur (self).
Because sjálfur acts as an adjective, it agrees with the subject in gender and number, while its case is determined by the verb or preposition.
Accusative Case (sig)
For verbs that take an accusative direct object, like réttlæta (to justify) or blekkja (to deceive), the pronoun is sig.
Masculine subject (sjálfan sig):
| We do not know whether the perpetrator shoulders the responsibility or justifies himself. | Við vitum ekki hvort gerandinn axlar ábyrgðina eða réttlætir sjálfan sig. |
Feminine subject (sjálfa sig):
| When she justified herself, she believed the lie. | Þegar hún réttlætti sjálfa sig trúði hún lyginni. |
Plural subject (such as the neuter plural þau, using sjálf sig):
| They deceive themselves and do not admit the fault. | Þau blekkja sjálf sig og viðurkenna ekki sökina. |
Dative Case (sér)
If the verb or preposition governs the dative case, the reflexive pronoun becomes sér, and sjálfur declines to match. For example, the verb fyrirgefa (to forgive) always takes a dative object.
Masculine subject (sjálfum sér):
| The man repents, but he cannot forgive himself the oversight. | Maðurinn iðrast en hann getur ekki fyrirgefið sjálfum sér yfirsjónina. |
Feminine subject (sjálfri sér):
| The resentment decreases when she forgives herself. | Gremjan minnkar þegar hún fyrirgefur sjálfri sér. |
Genitive Case (sín)
If a word requires the genitive case, the reflexive pronoun becomes sín. The preposition til (to/towards) is a common trigger for the genitive, resulting in sjálfs sín for a masculine subject:
| To find the fault, the perpetrator must look to himself. | Til að finna sökina verður gerandinn að líta til sjálfs sín. |
Taking Responsibility
You will frequently see these emphatic reflexives paired with vocabulary about personal responsibility and admitting fault.
| The resentment and the self-deception destroy the apology because he only thinks about himself. | Gremjan og sjálfsblekkingin eyðileggja afsökunarbeiðnina af því að hann hugsar bara um sjálfan sig. |
