Breakdown of Hún þakkar mér kærlega.
hún
she
mér
me (dative)
þakka
to thank
kærlega
dearly, warmly (as in "thank you very much")
Questions & Answers about Hún þakkar mér kærlega.
Why does the sentence use mér instead of mig for "me"?
The verb þakka (to thank) requires the person being thanked to be in the dative case. Because of this, the normal object pronoun mig (accusative) isn't used. Instead, ég (I) changes to its dative form, mér. In Icelandic, you don't thank someone directly in the accusative; you give thanks to them in the dative!
I usually just say takk for "thanks". How is þakkar different?
Takk is an everyday exclamation (like "thanks!"). Þakkar is the actual verb þakka (to thank) conjugated for hún (she). You use the verb þakka when you are describing the action in a full sentence with a subject, like "she thanks me" rather than just saying the greeting.
Is kærlega the same word used in the common phrase takk kærlega?
Yes, exactly! Kærlega is an adverb that means "warmly" or "dearly," coming from the adjective kær (dear). When you say takk kærlega, you are literally saying "thanks warmly." In this sentence, it just modifies the verb to show how she is thanking me.
If I wanted to reverse this and say "I thank her warmly," how would it change?