Word
Honum finnst sérviskan sín ekki undarleg.
Meaning
He does not find his eccentricity strange.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Honum finnst sérviskan sín ekki undarleg.
hann
he
ekki
not
finnast
to find, to think
sinn
his/her/their own (sinn, sína, sitt)
Questions & Answers about Honum finnst sérviskan sín ekki undarleg.
Why do we use the reflexive sín here instead of hans for "his"?
The verb finnast takes a dative subject, which is Honum here. Even though it is not in the nominative case (often called a "quirky subject"), it still acts as the true subject of the sentence. Because of this, it triggers the reflexive possessive sín to show that the eccentricity belongs to the subject himself. If you used hans, it would mean he finds another man's eccentricity strange.
If the subject Honum is dative, why is sín in the nominative case?
A reflexive possessive pronoun like sinn always agrees in gender, number, and case with the noun it modifies, not with the owner. Here, it describes sérviskan (the eccentricity), which is feminine nominative singular. Therefore, the pronoun must be the feminine nominative singular form sín.
Why does sérviskan have the definite article -n when it is followed by a possessive pronoun?
Unlike English, which drops "the" when using a possessive (we just say "his eccentricity"), Icelandic typically requires the definite article on a noun when the possessive pronoun immediately follows it. You are literally saying "eccentricity-the his" (sérviskan sín).
Why is the adjective undarleg in the nominative case? Shouldn't the object of a verb be accusative?