Breakdown of Ræðumaðurinn er þeim mjög þakklátur fyrir hjálpina.
vera
to be
mjög
very
þeir
they (m)
fyrir
for (fyrir þig)
hjálpin
the help
ræðumaðurinn
the speaker
þakklátur
grateful
Questions & Answers about Ræðumaðurinn er þeim mjög þakklátur fyrir hjálpina.
Why is the pronoun þeim in the dative case?
The adjective þakklátur (grateful) requires the person you are grateful to to be in the dative case. This is why the pronoun is þeim (to them) instead of the accusative þá, þær, or þau.
Why does þeim come before mjög þakklátur instead of after it?
When an adjective governs a pronoun in Icelandic, that pronoun usually comes right before the adjective or its modifying adverb. While you could technically say mjög þakklátur þeim, putting the dative pronoun earlier to say þeim mjög þakklátur is the standard, natural word order.
Why does þakklátur end in -ur?
As an adjective, þakklátur must agree in gender, number, and case with the subject it describes. Because ræðumaðurinn (the speaker) is a masculine noun in the nominative singular, the adjective takes the matching -ur ending. If the speaker were a woman (ræðukonan), it would be the feminine þakklát.
Why does fyrir take the accusative case for hjálpina here?
The preposition fyrir can take either the accusative or the dative case depending on its meaning. When it means 'for' in the context of being grateful for something, paying for something, or getting something in exchange, it always takes the accusative case. Therefore, the feminine noun hjálp with the attached definite article becomes hjálpina.
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