Breakdown of Við fáum tjaldvagninn hennar Kristínar fyrir útileguna.
við
we
fá
to get
hennar
her / hers (genitive)
Kristín
Kristín
fyrir
for (on someone's behalf; as in "thanks for")
tjaldvagninn
the camper trailer
útilegan
the camping trip
Questions & Answers about Við fáum tjaldvagninn hennar Kristínar fyrir útileguna.
Why do we say tjaldvagninn hennar Kristínar instead of just tjaldvagn Kristínar?
While tjaldvagn Kristínar is grammatically correct, it sounds formal or bookish. In spoken, everyday Icelandic, it is much more natural to use the colloquial possession structure. You take the possessed noun with the definite article (tjaldvagninn), follow it with the personal pronoun matching the owner's gender (hennar), and end with the owner's name in the genitive case (Kristínar).
Why is tjaldvagninn in the accusative case while hennar Kristínar is in the genitive?
The verb fá (to get) requires its direct object to be in the accusative case, so tjaldvagn becomes tjaldvagninn. However, the possessor part (hennar Kristínar) indicates ownership, which is always expressed with the genitive case in Icelandic. The possessor's case stays genitive regardless of what case the object itself is in.
Why does the preposition fyrir take the accusative case (útileguna) here rather than the dative?
The preposition fyrir changes case depending on its meaning. When it means "for" in the sense of purpose or intention (like "for the camping trip"), it takes the accusative. It generally takes the dative when referring to a static location ("in front of") or time ("ago").
How do we get the ending on the word útileguna?
The base word is the feminine noun útilega (camping trip). Because the preposition fyrir forces it into the accusative case, the weak feminine ending -a changes to -u, making it útilegu. Finally, we attach the feminine accusative definite article -na, resulting in útileguna (the camping trip).
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