Breakdown of Hún býður öllum bekkjarfélögunum í afmælið.
hún
she
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
afmælið
the birthday
bjóða
to invite
allur
all / everything / everyone
bekkjarfélaginn
the classmate
Questions & Answers about Hún býður öllum bekkjarfélögunum í afmælið.
Why is the word for classmates in the dative case here?
The verb bjóða (to invite or to offer) requires the person receiving the invitation to be in the dative case. Because of this rule, both the pronoun öllum and the noun bekkjarfélögunum take their dative plural endings.
Why does bekkjarfélögunum have the definite article ending attached when the word öllum (all) is right before it?
In Icelandic, when you use the word allur (all) to talk about a specific, known group of people or things, the noun that follows must have the definite article attached to the end of it. This matches the English structure of saying 'all the' rather than just 'all'.
Why is there an 'ar' in the middle of the word bekkjarfélögunum?
This is a compound noun made from bekkur (class) and félagi (companion). In Icelandic, the first word in a compound is often put into the genitive (possessive) case to link them together. The genitive of bekkur is bekkjar, creating a word that literally means 'companion of the class'.
Why do we use the preposition í here, and why is afmælið in the accusative case instead of dative?
While í usually means 'in' and takes the dative case for a static location, it is also used to mean 'to' when going to events or gatherings like a party. When expressing this direction or movement to an event, í triggers the accusative case, which is why we use the accusative form afmælið.
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