Question 1

Why do we say klæddi sig í instead of just klæddi?

Accepted Answer

In Icelandic, putting on clothes is expressed reflexively. Að klæða sig í literally means "to dress oneself in." If you left out the reflexive pronoun sig, it would sound like the teacher was putting clothes onto the apron!

Question 2

Doesn't the preposition í take the dative case when talking about clothing? Why is svuntuna in the accusative?

Accepted Answer

It depends on whether there is movement! When you are already wearing something, í takes the dative to show a static state (e.g., vera í svuntunni = to wear the apron). But when you are putting it on, it's considered movement into the clothing, so í takes the accusative (klæða sig í svuntuna).

Question 3

Is the verb mótaði (shaped) related to the -ka change-of-state verbs in this lesson?

Accepted Answer

While it doesn't use the -ka suffix (which typically turns adjectives into verbs, like stækka), að móta (to shape or mold) is a similar type of derived verb. It is built from the root noun mót (a mold or model). It shares the same linguistic logic as the -ka verbs: taking a base word and turning it into an action that causes a change in state or physical form.

Question 4

Both kennarinn and leirinn end in -inn. Are they in the same case here?

Accepted Answer

No, they aren't! Kennarinn is the subject doing the action, so it is in the nominative case (kennari + nn). Leirinn is the direct object being shaped, so it is in the accusative case. For strong masculine nouns like leir, the accusative definite suffix is -inn, which just happens to look identical to the nominative suffix for weak masculine nouns like kennari.

Kennarinn klæddi sig í svuntuna og mótaði leirinn.

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