Breakdown of Það er tískan sem er ástríðan hans.
vera
to be
það
it / there (existential) / the one (n)
hans
his
sem
who / which / that
tískan
the fashion
ástríðan
the passion
Questions & Answers about Það er tískan sem er ástríðan hans.
Why does the sentence use Það er ... sem instead of just saying Tískan er ástríðan hans?
This is a cleft sentence, used to put special focus on a specific part of the statement. By placing tískan between Það er (It is) and sem (that), you are heavily emphasizing that fashion is his passion, as opposed to sports, cooking, or anything else.
Why do tíska and ástríða have the definite article -n attached to them here?
In Icelandic, abstract concepts like fashion (tískan) and passion (ástríðan) usually take the definite article when discussing them in a general, overarching sense. In English, we leave the word 'the' off and just say 'fashion', but Icelandic requires the definite form here.
Why is hans placed after ástríðan, and why does the noun still need the definite article?
When showing possession in everyday Icelandic, the standard rule is to put the possessive word (hans) after the noun, and that noun must be in its definite form (ástríðan). Putting the possessive first and dropping the article (hans ástríða) is grammatically possible but usually sounds overly formal, dramatic, or poetic.
What is the subject of the second er in this sentence?
The relative pronoun sem acts as the subject for the second er. It points right back to tískan. Since tískan is a singular noun, the verb stays in the singular form er.
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