Breakdown of Öklinn á mér var mjög aumur fyrir mánuði síðan.
vera
to be
ég
I
mjög
very
á
onto / on / in (static location) / on (a day of the week)
mánuðurinn
the month
fyrir
ago (before the time phrase, + dative)
síðan
ago (after the time phrase)
aumur
sore
öklinn
the ankle
Questions & Answers about Öklinn á mér var mjög aumur fyrir mánuði síðan.
Why does the sentence use öklinn á mér instead of a possessive pronoun like öklinn minn?
For external body parts (like an ankle, leg, or arm), Icelandic usually uses the definite form of the noun followed by á and a dative pronoun. So instead of saying 'my ankle,' you literally say 'the ankle on me.'
Why is the adjective aumur used instead of aumt?
Adjectives have to match the noun they describe. The word for ankle (ökli) is a masculine noun. Because it is the subject of the sentence, it is in the nominative case, so we use the masculine nominative singular form aumur. (If you were talking about a neuter body part like an eye, you would use aumt).
Why does the word for month (mánuður) change to mánuði?
It is part of the phrase for 'ago,' which always follows the pattern: fyrir + [time period in dative case] + síðan. The preposition fyrir forces the time word into the dative case, turning mánuður into mánuði.
Do I need both fyrir and síðan to say 'ago'?
Yes! To say 'ago' in Icelandic, you must sandwich the time period between fyrir and síðan. If you left off síðan, the sentence would just mean 'before a month.'
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