To express that you feel hot or cold in Icelandic, you use an impersonal construction. Instead of saying "I am cold," you literally say "To me is cold." The person experiencing the temperature is placed in the dative case.
| Nominative | Dative |
|---|---|
| ég | mér |
| þú | þér |
| hann / hún / það | honum / henni / því |
| við | okkur |
| þið | ykkur |
| þeir / þær / þau | þeim |
The verb vera (to be) is always in the third-person singular (er for present, var for past). The adjective describing the temperature must be in the neuter singular form: kalt (cold) or heitt (hot).
| We go into the sauna because we are very cold. | Við förum í gufubaðið af því að okkur er mjög kalt. |
To express this in the past tense, just change er to var. The dative pronoun and neuter adjective forms do not change.
| I was way too hot when I went into the sauna. | Mér var alltof heitt þegar ég fór í gufubaðið. |
| She went into the shower because she was cold. | Hún fór í sturtuna af því að henni var kalt. |
When talking about your body's physical reaction to temperature, like að skjálfa (to shiver) or að svitna (to sweat), the subject takes the standard nominative case.
| I am shivering because I am very cold. | Ég skelf af því að mér er mjög kalt. |
| I always sweat a lot when I am hot. | Ég svitna alltaf mikið þegar mér er heitt. |
Weather events also use impersonal structures, but they use the dummy pronoun það (it), just like in English. Verbs describing changes in the weather include að hlýna (to get warm), að kólna (to cool down), and að frjósa (to freeze).
| When it cools down outside, she is always cold. | Þegar það kólnar úti er henni alltaf kalt. |
| It freezes outside and I am very cold. | Það frýs úti og mér er mjög kalt. |
