Breakdown of Í gær bað ég hann um að klæða sig sem varúlf fyrir grímuballið.
ég
I
hann
he
að
to (infinitive marker)
í gær
yesterday
klæða
to dress
sig
himself/herself/themselves (acc)
fyrir
for (on someone's behalf; as in "thanks for")
biðja
to ask for
sem
as (in the role of)
grímuballið
the masquerade ball
varúlfurinn
the werewolf
Questions & Answers about Í gær bað ég hann um að klæða sig sem varúlf fyrir grímuballið.
Why is varúlf in the accusative case here instead of the nominative varúlfur?
The word sem (meaning "as") requires the noun following it to match the case of the word it describes or refers back to. Here, the werewolf role refers to the reflexive pronoun sig (himself). Since sig is in the accusative case as the direct object of klæða, the word for werewolf must also be in the accusative form: varúlf.
Why do we need the preposition um before að klæða? Can't we just say bað hann að klæða?
The verb biðja (to ask or request) uses the preposition um when you are asking someone to do an action. The fixed grammatical structure is biðja einhvern um að gera eitthvað (to ask someone to do something). Leaving out um is a common English speaker mistake, but it sounds unnatural in Icelandic.
Could I use hann instead of sig after klæða?
Only if he is dressing a different person! If you said klæða hann, it would mean he was dressing another male. Because the person performing the action (dressing) is the same person receiving the action, you must use the reflexive pronoun sig.
Why is the subject ég placed after the verb bað?
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