Breakdown of Hún bað um launahækkun í gær.
hún
she
í gær
yesterday
um
about
biðja
to ask for
launahækkunin
the pay rise
Questions & Answers about Hún bað um launahækkun í gær.
What is the infinitive form of bað, and why does it look so different?
Bað is the third-person singular past tense of the verb biðja (to ask). It is a strong verb, which means it forms its past tense by changing its core vowel rather than adding a regular past tense ending.
Why do we need the preposition um after the verb?
In Icelandic, the phrasal verb biðja um specifically means "to ask for" or "to request" a thing. If you just used biðja on its own without um, it would usually mean asking a person to do a task, or praying.
What case does um take here, and why hasn't the ending of launahækkun changed?
The preposition um always forces the following noun into the accusative case. However, launahækkun is a feminine noun ending in -un. Nouns with this specific ending keep the exact same form in the nominative, accusative, and dative cases, so it doesn't look any different than its dictionary form here.
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