Questions & Answers about Ég heilsa konunni.
Why is the object in the dative case (konunni) instead of the accusative (konuna)?
The verb heilsa (to greet) governs the dative case. This means any person or thing you greet must be put into the dative form, rather than the standard accusative case normally used for direct objects.
How do you build the word konunni from the base word kona?
In Icelandic, the word for 'the' is usually attached to the end of the noun. For a feminine noun like kona in the dative case, the base word becomes konu. Then you add the dative definite ending -nni, which gives you konunni (the woman).
Is heilsa the infinitive form of the verb here?
It looks exactly like it, but here it is the conjugated form for ég (I). For many Icelandic verbs that end in -a, the first-person present tense form is identical to the infinitive (dictionary) form.
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