Breakdown of Ég sá auglýsinguna í sjónvarpinu.
ég
I
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
sjá
to see
sjónvarpið
the television
auglýsingin
the advertisement
Questions & Answers about Ég sá auglýsinguna í sjónvarpinu.
Why does the Icelandic sentence use í instead of á for "on" television?
In English, we say we see something "on" TV, but in Icelandic, you see it "in" the TV (í sjónvarpinu). The preposition í is the standard choice for electronic media like television, radio (í útvarpinu), and even the cinema (í bíó).
Why is sjónvarpinu in the dative case here?
The preposition í can take either the accusative or dative case. Here it takes the dative because it describes a static location (the medium where the advertisement was shown), rather than movement towards a destination. Because sjónvarp is a neuter noun, adding the dative definite article "the" gives us sjónvarpinu.
What case is auglýsinguna, and why?
It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb sjá (to see). The base noun is the feminine word auglýsing (advertisement). To say "the" advertisement in the accusative case, we add the feminine definite article -una, making it auglýsinguna.
How does the word sjónvarp literally translate?
It is a compound word that perfectly shows how Icelandic creates new vocabulary instead of borrowing international words. It combines sjón (sight or vision) and varp (throwing or casting). So, television in Icelandic is literally "vision-casting".
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