Gremjan minnkar þegar hún fyrirgefur sjálfri sér.
The resentment decreases when she forgives herself.
Breakdown of Gremjan minnkar þegar hún fyrirgefur sjálfri sér.
hún
she
fyrirgefa
to forgive
sig
himself/herself/themselves (acc)
þegar
when
minnka
to reduce / to decrease (intransitive) / to reduce (something)
sjálfur
self, oneself
gremjan
the resentment
Questions & Answers about Gremjan minnkar þegar hún fyrirgefur sjálfri sér.
Why do we use sjálfri sér here instead of just saying hún fyrirgefur sér?
While hún fyrirgefur sér is grammatically correct, adding sjálfri emphasizes that it is herself she is forgiving. English achieves this naturally with the combined word "herself," but in Icelandic, the plain reflexive sér can sometimes feel a bit weak or ambiguous. Adding the matching form of sjálfur adds emphasis: she forgives herself (as opposed to someone else).
Why are both sjálfri and sér in the dative case here?
The verb fyrirgefa (to forgive) controls the case of its object. In Icelandic, the person who is being forgiven is always put into the dative case. Because of this, both the reflexive pronoun (sér) and the emphatic word modifying it (sjálfri) must be in the dative.
How do we know to use the specific form sjálfri?
The word sjálfur acts like an adjective and must agree in gender, number, and case with the noun or pronoun it refers to. Since it refers back to the subject hún (feminine, singular) and is forced into the dative case by the verb, we use the feminine singular dative form: sjálfri.
English usually just says "Resentment decreases," so why is it Gremjan (The resentment) with the definite article?
In Icelandic, abstract nouns like gremja (resentment, bitterness) usually take the definite suffix when you are talking about the concept in a general, universal sense. Therefore, "resentment" becomes gremjan.
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