News Icelandic
Icelandic news writing has its own small verb set, and it leans on grammar you have just learned: the passive, reported speech, and samkvæmt + dative for sources.
Reporting verbs and events
| expression | meaning | register |
|---|---|---|
| greina frá + dat | to report on | written |
| koma fram | to be stated, to emerge | written |
| birta + acc | to publish | neutral |
| eiga sér stað | to take place | written |
| verða fyrir + dat | to be subjected to, to suffer | neutral |
greina frá is the written sibling of segja frá: the reporter, not the storyteller. eiga sér stað is what events do in print — in speech you would say gerast. verða fyrir takes the dative for what hits you: slysi, tapi, áhrifum.
What the news is made of
Morðið (the murder) and morðinginn (the murderer) run the crime pages; hermaðurinn (the soldier) the foreign pages; sannleikurinn (the truth) is what everyone claims to print.
Receiving media
An umfjöllun is a review or a piece of coverage; a heimildamynd is a documentary; an útdráttur is the summary you write in school. And to follow Icelandic conversation about any of it you need kaldhæðnin (the sarcasm) and húmorinn (the humor) — the two things the curriculum says a B2 listener must catch.
