Breakdown of Lánstíminn er útrunninn og bókavörðurinn hótaði mér dagsekt.
vera
to be
og
and
mér
me (dative)
útrunninn
expired
bókavörðurinn
the librarian
lánstíminn
the loan period
hóta
to threaten
dagsektin
the daily fine
Questions & Answers about Lánstíminn er útrunninn og bókavörðurinn hótaði mér dagsekt.
Why do we use the dative case for both mér and dagsekt?
The verb hóta (to threaten) is a "double dative" ditransitive verb. It requires both the indirect object (the person being threatened, mér) and the direct object (the consequence or thing they are threatened with, dagsekt) to be in the dative case.
Why is it útrunninn instead of just using the phrasal verb runninn út?
While you could technically say lánstíminn er runninn út, it is very common in Icelandic to take the particle (út) from a phrasal verb and attach it as a prefix to the past participle. This creates a standard standalone adjective, útrunninn (expired). Here, it takes the masculine nominative singular ending -inn to agree with lánstíminn.
What is the literal breakdown of the word bókavörðurinn?
How do we know dagsekt is in the dative case if the word's ending hasn't changed?
The double dative verb hóta forces it into the dative case, even though the word itself doesn't visually change. Dagsekt is a feminine noun ending in a consonant. These types of feminine nouns often have identical forms for the nominative, accusative, and dative singular, only changing when they reach the genitive (dagsektar).
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