Breakdown of Réttirnar eru síðla hausts og við hlökkum mikið til þeirra.
vera
to be
og
and
við
we
þær
they (f)
mikið
a lot
haustið
the autumn
hlakka til
to look forward to
síðla
late (in a period of time)
réttirnar
the sheep round-ups
Questions & Answers about Réttirnar eru síðla hausts og við hlökkum mikið til þeirra.
Why is hausts in the genitive case here?
It forms a fixed expression of time with the adverb síðla (late), which requires the following season or time noun to be in the genitive case. The phrase síðla hausts translates to late in the autumn. You will see this same genitive pattern with other recurring time expressions, such as snemma dags (early in the day).
Why does the sentence end with the genitive pronoun þeirra?
The pronoun refers back to réttirnar (the round-ups). Since réttirnar is a feminine plural noun, we need the plural pronoun. It is in the genitive case because the preposition til always governs the genitive. The phrasal verb hlakka til (to look forward to) requires you to use til followed by whatever you are anticipating in the genitive case.
Why do we use the nominative subject við for the verb hlakka when many verbs expressing feelings take the dative?
Unlike many Icelandic verbs that express feelings or bodily states (such as langa or vanta) which take an accusative or dative subject, hlakka takes a standard nominative subject in correct Icelandic. You might hear native speakers casually use the dative in a very common grammar slip called þágufallssýki (dative sickness), but við hlökkum is the strictly correct form.
Why does the word mikið come before til þeirra instead of at the very end of the sentence?
In English we usually put phrases like a lot at the very end of the sentence, but in Icelandic, adverbs of degree like mikið are typically placed immediately after the verb they modify and before any prepositional phrases.
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