Breakdown of Frekjan krefur jólasveininn svara og réttlætis.
og
and
svarið
the answer (n)
jólasveinninn
the Santa Claus
frekjan
the pushiness / the brat
krefja
to demand (of someone)
réttlætið
the justice
Questions & Answers about Frekjan krefur jólasveininn svara og réttlætis.
How does the case government work with the verb krefja in this sentence?
The verb krefja (to demand) uses a ditransitive structure that takes the person being asked in the accusative case, and the thing being demanded in the genitive case. Here, jólasveininn (Santa Claus) is the accusative person, while the things demanded, svara (answers) and réttlætis (justice), are both in the genitive.
Why do we use the active verb krefur here instead of the middle voice krefst, which is also very common for 'to demand'?
The active form krefja allows you to specify who the demand is placed on using an accusative object. If you use the middle voice krefjast, you can only specify the thing being demanded (in the genitive). If the sentence were simply 'The brat demands answers', it would be Frekjan krefst svara, but because Santa is included as the target of the demand, we need the active krefur.
Why do the two genitive words svara and réttlætis have completely different endings?
They are in different numbers. Both words are neuter nouns, but svara is the genitive plural of svar (an answer), which ends in -a. Réttlætis is the genitive singular of réttlæti (justice), which takes a standard -s ending. The conjunction og ensures the verb's genitive requirement applies to both objects.
What is the literal meaning of frekjan?
Frekja is a feminine noun that translates to pushiness, bossiness, or audacity. When used to refer to a person, usually with the definite article as frekjan, it acts as a noun meaning 'the pushy person' or 'the brat'.
Learn Frekjan krefur jólasveininn svara og réttlætis and more in Icelandic
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free