Breakdown of Af hverju refsar þú sjálfum þér svona mikið?
þú
you
mikið
a lot
þér
you (dative singular)
af hverju
why
svona
so, like this
sjálfur
self, oneself
refsa
to punish
Questions & Answers about Af hverju refsar þú sjálfum þér svona mikið?
Why do we use sjálfum þér here instead of just þig or sjálfan þig?
The verb refsa (to punish) always requires its object to be in the dative case. Therefore, you must use the dative form of the pronoun 'you' (þér) and pair it with the matching dative form of the intensifying word for 'self' (sjálfum).
Does sjálfum change depending on who I am talking to?
Yes, it does! Because sjálfur acts like an adjective, it must agree with the gender of the person you are addressing. Sjálfum is the masculine dative form, so this sentence is being spoken to a male. If you were asking a woman, you would say sjálfri þér, and for someone using gender-neutral pronouns, you would use the neuter form sjálfu þér.
Is it possible to just say Af hverju refsar þú þér without using sjálfum?
Grammatically, yes. However, adding sjálfum strongly emphasizes that you are punishing your own self. While English requires the compound word 'yourself', Icelandic creates this by taking the regular object pronoun (þér) and adding the matching form of sjálfur to intensify it. In this context, leaving it out would sound unnaturally weak.
Why does the verb refsar come before the subject þú?
Icelandic uses verb-second (V2) word order. Because the question phrase Af hverju (why) takes up the first slot in the sentence, the verb refsar must be in the second slot. This pushes the subject þú right after the verb.
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