Breakdown of Bróðir minn líkist föður okkar.
bróðirinn
the brother
minn
my (m, f, n: minn, mín, mitt)
okkar
our
faðirinn
the father (formal register)
Questions & Answers about Bróðir minn líkist föður okkar.
Why is the word for father written as föður here instead of faðir?
The verb líkist (resembles) requires its object to be in the dative case. The noun faðir is irregular: in the singular, its vowel shifts and it becomes föður in the accusative, dative, and genitive cases.
Since faðir changes so much, does bróðir also change its vowels like that in other cases?
Yes, but it is a little simpler. Here, bróðir is the subject (nominative), so it stays in its dictionary form. If it were the object of líkist (in the dative case), it would become bróður. Both faðir and bróðir drop the -ir and add -ur in their non-nominative singular forms.
Why does the verb líkist end in -st?
It is a middle voice verb, often called an -st verb. The base verb líkja means "to liken" or "to compare," but when you add the -st ending to make líkjast (which conjugates to líkist for "he/she/it"), the meaning changes to "to resemble." Verbs that mean "to resemble" or "to seem" very commonly take the dative case.
minn is in the nominative case to match bróðir, but why doesn't okkar change to match the dative föður?