Breakdown of Mig langar að nota smjörlíki í stað smjörs.
mig
me (acc)
langa
to want
að
to (infinitive marker)
nota
to use
smjörið
the butter
í stað
instead of
smjörlíkið
the margarine
Questions & Answers about Mig langar að nota smjörlíki í stað smjörs.
Why is the word for butter written as smjörs instead of just smjör?
This happens because of the complex preposition í stað (instead of). In Icelandic, í stað always forces the noun that follows it to take the genitive case. The base word is the neuter noun smjör, and its genitive form adds an -s, making it smjörs.
What is the literal translation of í stað, and does it help explain why it takes the genitive?
Literally, í stað means 'in [the] place'. When you add a noun after it, you are literally saying 'in the place OF butter'. In Icelandic, the genitive case is used to show possession or the 'of' relationship, which is exactly why complex prepositions built around nouns like this one require the following word to be in the genitive.
Why does the sentence start with Mig langar rather than Ég langar?
The verb langa (to want or to long for) is an impersonal verb. This means the person experiencing the desire isn't the grammatical subject. Instead of the nominative ég (I), it requires the person to be in the accusative case, which is mig (me). Literally, it translates closer to 'It longs me'.
What case is smjörlíki in, and why doesn't it have a special ending?
The word smjörlíki (margarine) is the direct object of the verb nota (to use), so it is in the accusative case. It doesn't look different from its dictionary form because it is a neuter noun. Neuter nouns always have the exact same form in the accusative case as they do in the nominative case.
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