Passives with dative subjects

Passives with Dative Subjects

Some verbs involve two objects, like giving, showing, or offering something to someone. In the active voice, the person receiving the action is usually in the dative case, and the thing being given is in the accusative.

When we turn these sentences into the passive voice (e.g., "I was dealt the cards"), the dative receiver moves to the front of the sentence and acts as a quirky dative subject.

Dual Agreement with Nominative Objects

Here is the catch: when the dative receiver becomes the subject, the thing being given, shown, or offered shifts into the nominative case, becoming a nominative object.

Because the subject is dative, the passive auxiliary verb (vera) and the past participle of the main verb (like gefinn or sýndur) cannot agree with it. Instead, they must agree in gender and number with the nominative object.

Let's look at a singular example. Ásinn (the ace) is a masculine noun. When "she" (dative) is dealt the ace (nominative), the verb vera is singular (var), and the participle gefinn takes the masculine singular nominative form.

If the nominative object is plural, the verb and participle must also be plural. Notice how spilapeningarnir (the chips, masculine plural) forces the verb to become voru and the participle afhentur to become afhentir.

Similarly, if the object is neuter plural, like spilin (the cards), the verb is plural and the participle changes to match the neuter plural form (afhent).

Here are a couple more examples from the casino floor showing how the subject stays locked in the dative case, while the verb and participle completely shift to match whatever is being offered or dealt.