Breakdown of Henni var gefinn ásinn af gjafaranum.
vera
to be
hún
she
gefa
to give
af
by (agent of a passive)
gjafarinn
the dealer
ásinn
the ace
Questions & Answers about Henni var gefinn ásinn af gjafaranum.
Why is the past participle gefinn masculine and nominative, when the person receiving it (Henni) is feminine?
In this passive construction, Henni (to her) is a dative subject, so it doesn't control the agreement of the verb or the past participle. Instead, the past participle gefinn agrees with the nominative object ásinn (the ace), which is a masculine, singular noun.
The verb here is gefa, which I learned as 'to give'. Is it standard to use it for 'dealing' cards?
Yes! In the context of card games, gefa is the standard verb for dealing cards. Similarly, gjafari (literally 'giver') is the word for the dealer, and ás is an ace.
If the object were plural, like 'the aces' (ásarnir), would the verb var change?
Yes, it would. Because the verb agrees with the nominative object rather than the dative subject, it would become plural: Henni voru gefnir ásarnir. The verb vera changes to voru (they were), and the participle becomes gefnir (masculine plural nominative).
I thought Icelandic passives usually avoid saying who did the action. Is af gjafaranum common here?
You're right that Icelandic often drops the agent in passive sentences. However, when you do need to specify who performed the action (the 'by someone' phrase), you use the preposition af followed by the dative case. Here, gjafaranum is the dative form of gjafarinn (the dealer).
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