Hún sagði að hún skammaðist sín fyrir slæma dómgreind.
She said that she was ashamed of bad judgment.
Breakdown of Hún sagði að hún skammaðist sín fyrir slæma dómgreind.
hún
she
slæmur
bad
að
that (conjunction)
fyrir
for (fyrir þig)
segja
to say
skammast sín
to be ashamed
dómgreindin
the judgment (discernment)
Questions & Answers about Hún sagði að hún skammaðist sín fyrir slæma dómgreind.
Why do we use sín here instead of sig or sér?
The verb skammast (to be ashamed) always requires the reflexive pronoun in the genitive case, which is sín. While most reflexive verbs take the accusative (sig) or dative (sér), a small group of verbs like skammast sín, njóta sín, and gæta sín are exceptions that specifically govern the genitive.
Why is slæma dómgreind in the accusative case? Doesn't the verb take the genitive?
The genitive requirement of skammast only applies to the reflexive pronoun (sín). The thing that you are ashamed of is introduced by the preposition fyrir. When fyrir means 'for' or 'because of', it governs the accusative case, which is why we see the accusative forms slæma and dómgreind.
Is skammaðist in the indicative or subjunctive mood here?
It is in the subjunctive mood. Because this is reported speech introduced by Hún sagði að... (She said that...), Icelandic typically uses the subjunctive. For this specific verb, the past indicative and past subjunctive forms happen to be identical (skammaðist), but grammatically it is acting as a subjunctive here.
How is the word dómgreind formed?
It is a feminine compound noun made from dómur (judgment, sentence, or court) and greind (intelligence or intellect). Put together, it means 'discernment' or 'judgment' as a personal trait.
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