Breakdown of Úlfurinn hafði stolið kjötinu frá hetjunni.
frá
from
hafa
to have
kjötið
the meat
stela
to steal
hetjan
the hero
úlfurinn
the wolf
Questions & Answers about Úlfurinn hafði stolið kjötinu frá hetjunni.
How do we form the past perfect tense in this sentence?
Just like in English, we use the past tense of the helper verb hafa (to have) and the supine form of the main verb. Because Úlfurinn is third-person singular, we use hafði (had), followed by stolið, which is the supine form of stela (to steal).
Why is the meat (kjötinu) in the dative case here instead of the accusative?
The verb stela (to steal) is a verb that governs the dative case. It forces whatever is being stolen into the dative. Kjöt is a neuter noun, so with the definite article attached, it becomes kjötinu.
Does the preposition frá also trigger the dative case for hetjunni?
Yes, the preposition frá (from) always takes the dative case. This forces the noun hetja (hero) to change to its dative definite form, hetjunni.
Why does the word for hero (hetjunni) have a feminine ending?
Grammatical gender in Icelandic does not always match biological gender. The noun hetja is grammatically feminine, even if the hero being talked about is male. Therefore, it follows the feminine declension patterns for the definite dative form.
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