Breakdown of Hún tók handhægu skiptifötin úr bakpokanum hjá sér.
hún
she
taka
to take
hjá
next to / at (someone's) place, with
úr
out of
sig
himself/herself/themselves (acc)
bakpokinn
the backpack
handhægur
handy / convenient
skiptifötin
the change of clothes
Questions & Answers about Hún tók handhægu skiptifötin úr bakpokanum hjá sér.
Why do we use the reflexive sér here instead of the personal pronoun henni?
This is a perfect example of associative reflexivity. Because the subject of the sentence (Hún) is the same person as the object of the preposition hjá (next to), Icelandic requires the reflexive pronoun (sér) rather than the regular pronoun (henni). If you used hjá henni, it would mean she took the clothes out of a backpack next to a completely different woman.
Wait, "a change of clothes" is singular in English. Why does skiptifötin look plural?
In Icelandic, föt (clothes) is always a neuter plural noun, regardless of how we phrase it in English. Even though we say "a change of clothes" as a singular concept in English, Icelandic sticks to the plural. The -in suffix on skiptifötin is the neuter plural definite article in the accusative case.
Why does the adjective handhægur (handy) become handhægu here?
Because it modifies skiptifötin, which has a definite article attached. This forces the adjective into the "weak" declension. For a neuter plural noun in the accusative case, the weak adjective ending is always -u, giving us handhægu.
Why is it úr bakpokanum rather than af bakpokanum?
The preposition úr means "out of" (from the inside of something), whereas af generally means "off of" (from the surface of something). Since she is pulling the clothes from inside the bag, úr is the right choice. It triggers the dative case, changing the masculine noun bakpokinn to bakpokanum.
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