Breakdown of Verður þér illt í kjálkanum?
þú
you
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
verða
to become; will be
illt
unwell, painful (mér er illt í)
kjálkinn
the jaw
Questions & Answers about Verður þér illt í kjálkanum?
Why use Verður here instead of a future tense with mun?
This ties into the current lesson! When predicting a future state, feeling, or condition, Icelanders strongly prefer using verða (to become or will be) rather than mun vera. It perfectly captures the idea of developing a sore jaw over time.
Why is the pronoun for 'you' in the dative case (þér) instead of the nominative (þú)?
Feeling physical pain or illness uses an impersonal construction in Icelandic. The person experiencing the pain acts as a 'dative experiencer.' The core phrase is að vera illt (to be sore or sick), so saying 'you will be sore' translates literally to 'to you will be sore,' which turns þú into þér.
Why is illt in the neuter form if kjálki (jaw) is a masculine word?
The adjective illt isn't grammatically modifying the jaw. It is taking the default neuter form used in the impersonal phrase að vera illt. The sentence is essentially saying 'Will a general state of soreness happen to you in the jaw?' rather than describing the jaw itself as a bad object.
The English translation says 'your jaw,' but I do not see a word for 'your' in the Icelandic sentence. Why?
Icelandic rarely uses possessive pronouns for body parts. Instead, it simply adds the definite article to the noun. Kjálkanum literally means 'the jaw.' Because the sentence already establishes that this is happening to you (þér), it is completely understood from context that it is your own jaw.
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