Breakdown of Ættingjar föður míns eru að heimsækja okkur.
vera
to be
að
to (infinitive marker)
heimsækja
to visit
okkur
us
minn
my (m, f, n: minn, mín, mitt)
faðirinn
the father (formal register)
ættinginn
the relative
Questions & Answers about Ættingjar föður míns eru að heimsækja okkur.
Why is the word for father föður here instead of faðir?
Föður is the genitive (possessive) singular form of the irregular noun faðir. Because the sentence is about the relatives of your father, the word for father must be in the genitive case. Notice the vowel shift from 'a' in faðir to 'ö' in föður, which happens in the accusative, dative, and genitive singular forms.
Why is the word for 'my' written as míns?
Possessive words must agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they describe. Since föður is masculine, singular, and in the genitive case, the pronoun minn changes to its masculine singular genitive form, which is míns.
The English translation says 'My father's relatives'. Why does Icelandic use the word order Ættingjar föður míns?
In Icelandic, possession is usually shown by putting the thing being owned first (Ættingjar), followed by the owner in the genitive case (föður), and finally the possessive word (míns). A literal translation would be 'Relatives (of) father my'.
What case does the verb heimsækja (to visit) take?
Heimsækja takes an object in the accusative case. The pronoun okkur (us) looks identical in both the accusative and dative cases, but here it is acting as an accusative direct object.
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