Quirky Subjects
In Icelandic, the logical subject of a sentence isn't always in the nominative case. Certain verbs—often describing feelings, desires, or experiences—require a dative or accusative subject. We call these "oblique" or "quirky" subjects.
Triggering the Reflexive Possessive (sinn)
Even though they aren't in the nominative case, quirky subjects still act as the true grammatical subject. If they own something in the sentence, they trigger the reflexive possessive pronoun sinn (his/her/its/their own).
Verbs like líka (to like) and finnast (to find/think) take a dative subject. Notice how the dative subjects henni and honum trigger the reflexives sitt and sín.
| She likes her strange private collection very much. | Henni líkar mjög vel við undarlega einkasafnið sitt. |
| He does not find his eccentricity strange. | Honum finnst sérviskan sín ekki undarleg. |
The same rule applies to accusative subjects. Verbs like langa (to want) and vanta (to lack/need) take an accusative subject, but still trigger sinn.
| The boy wants to put the precious stamp in his private collection. | Strákinn langar að setja dýrmæta frímerkið í einkasafnið sitt. |
| The boy needs a precious stamp for his private collection. | Strákinn vantar dýrmætt frímerki í einkasafnið sitt. |
Triggering the Reflexive Pronoun (sig / sér / sín)
Quirky subjects also trigger the standard reflexive pronouns—sig (accusative), sér (dative), or sín (genitive)—when doing something to or for themselves.
In the example below, dreyma (to dream) takes the accusative subject hana. Because she is buying the doll for herself, we use the dative reflexive pronoun sér.
| She often dreams of buying herself a precious doll. | Hana dreymir oft um að kaupa sér dýrmæta dúkku. |