Breakdown of Einræðisherrann sviptir fólkið mannréttindunum.
fólkið
the people
einræðisherrann
the dictator
svipta
to deprive
mannréttindin
the human rights
Questions & Answers about Einræðisherrann sviptir fólkið mannréttindunum.
Why does the verb sviptir take both the accusative and the dative case here?
This is the core of this lesson! Verbs of deprivation like svipta (to deprive) take two objects: the person being deprived is in the accusative (fólkið), and the thing they are losing is in the dative (mannréttindunum). Think of it as directly acting upon the people (accusative) with respect to the rights (dative).
Wait, isn't fólkið exactly the same in the nominative? How do we know it's accusative here?
Because fólk is a neuter noun, its nominative and accusative forms are identical. However, because it's the entity being deprived by the verb svipta, we know grammatically it must be in the accusative case here. The subject carrying out the action, Einræðisherrann, takes the nominative case.
What are the root words that make up mannréttindunum?
It breaks down into mann- (human/person) and réttindi (rights or privileges). Notice that réttindi is a neuter plural noun. To make it definite and dative to satisfy the verb svipta, we add the dative plural definite suffix -num, resulting in mannréttindunum.
In English we just say 'of human rights' (indefinite), so why does the Icelandic sentence use the definite form mannréttindunum?
Icelandic often uses the definite article for abstract concepts or general classes of things when discussing them in their entirety. While English leaves 'human rights' indefinite here, Icelandic frequently uses the definite form to refer to that whole collective concept.
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