Breakdown of Ég skvetti vatni á tölvuna út af klaufaskapnum mínum.
ég
I
vatnið
the water
tölvan
the computer
á
onto / on / in (static location) / on (a day of the week)
minn
my (m, f, n: minn, mín, mitt)
út af
because of (+ dative)
skvetta
to splash
klaufaskapurinn
the clumsiness
Questions & Answers about Ég skvetti vatni á tölvuna út af klaufaskapnum mínum.
Why is vatni in the dative case instead of the accusative?
The verb skvetta (to splash) governs the dative case for the substance being splashed. In Icelandic, verbs involving throwing, pouring, or moving a material usually take a dative object.
Why is it á tölvuna (accusative) rather than á tölvunni (dative)?
The preposition á takes the accusative case here because it describes movement or direction toward a destination. The water is actively splashing onto the computer. If you were talking about a puddle already sitting statically on the laptop, you would use the dative (á tölvunni).
What case does út af trigger in this sentence?
When the prepositional phrase út af is used to mean 'due to' or 'because of', it governs the dative case. That is why the noun klaufaskapur (clumsiness) is in its dative form, klaufaskapnum.
Why does klaufaskapnum have a definite suffix when the possessive mínum is right there?
Icelandic typically requires the definite article suffix on the noun when using this word order (noun + possessive pronoun). This is standard for personal traits, body parts, and family members. You are literally saying 'the clumsiness mine'.
Learn Ég skvetti vatni á tölvuna út af klaufaskapnum mínum 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