Breakdown of Finnst honum einkasafnið sitt undarlegt?
hann
he
finnast
to find, to think
sinn
his/her/their own (sinn, sína, sitt)
undarlegur
strange
einkasafnið
the private collection
Questions & Answers about Finnst honum einkasafnið sitt undarlegt?
Why do we use the reflexive sitt here instead of hans?
Because honum acts as the logical subject of the sentence, even though it is in the dative case (a quirky subject). In Icelandic, oblique subjects still trigger the reflexive possessive sinn, sitt, or sín when referring back to them, just like a regular nominative subject would.
Why is the thing he finds strange, einkasafnið, in the nominative case instead of the accusative?
The verb finnast (to find/think) takes a dative subject (honum) and a nominative object (einkasafnið). Because the object is in the nominative, any adjectives describing it must also be in the nominative case.
Does the adjective undarlegt agree with honum or einkasafnið?
It agrees with einkasafnið. Since safn is a neuter noun in the nominative singular, the adjective must also be in the neuter nominative singular form (undarlegt). The dative subject honum does not dictate the adjective's form here.
How is the word einkasafnið formed?
It is a compound of the prefix einka- (meaning private, sole, or exclusive) and the neuter noun safn (collection), plus the definite article -ið. You will see einka- in many other words, such as einkabíll (private car) or einkamál (private matter).
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