Breakdown of Mér er illt í hausnum eftir daginn.
vera
to be
ég
I
dagurinn
the day (m)
eftir
after / for (waiting for)
illt
unwell, painful (mér er illt í)
hausinn
the head (colloquial)
Questions & Answers about Mér er illt í hausnum eftir daginn.
Why do we use the dative Mér instead of Ég here?
This is an impersonal construction used for physical sensations. The person experiencing the pain takes the dative case (Mér), and the adjective is in the neuter singular (illt). If you said Ég er illur, it would mean "I am evil" or "I am angry", not that you are in pain!
I learned that höfuð means "head". Why is hausnum used here?
Technically, höfuð is the anatomical word for a human head, and haus is for an animal's head. However, in casual, everyday Icelandic, it is very common to use haus for your own head, especially in common complaints like mér er illt í hausnum (I have a headache).
Why is the body part in the dative case (hausnum)?
The preposition í governs the dative case when it indicates a static location. Since the pain is located inside the head and is not moving toward it, the noun haus takes the dative definite form hausnum.
Why does eftir take the accusative case (daginn) here?
When the preposition eftir means "after" in a sense of time, it always takes the accusative case. It generally only takes the dative when it means "along" (like walking along a street) or "remaining" (like having food left over).
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