One of a group (einn af)

"One of..." with "einn af"

When you want to single out a specific person or thing from a larger group, you use the phrase einn af (one of).

The preposition af always requires the dative case. Because you are pulling from a larger group, the noun phrase that follows it must be in the dative plural. Usually, this group is definite (e.g., "the scientists", "the bands"), so the noun will have the dative plural definite ending attached, which is almost always -unum.

Matching Gender

The word for "one" must match the grammatical gender of the noun you are singling out. Depending on the noun's gender, you will use its nominative form:

• Masculine: einn af
• Feminine: ein af
• Neuter: eitt af

Notice the adjectives in these sentences (snjöllustu, bestu, stærstu). When adding a descriptive adjective to the group—like "one of the cleverest scientists"—the adjective also goes into the dative plural to match the noun.

Changing the Case of "einn"

While the group following af is permanently locked in the dative plural, the word for "one" (einn / ein / eitt) is still the core noun of its part of the sentence. This means it will change its case if the phrase is the object of a verb or follows another preposition.

For example, if the entire phrase is a direct object, the word for "one" takes the accusative case. (Note that the neuter word eitt looks identical in both the nominative and accusative cases).

If the phrase follows a different preposition that dictates a new case, only the word for "one" is affected. In the following example, the preposition í (in) requires the dative case, changing the feminine ein to its dative form, einni: