Breakdown of Mér finnst einn hundur góður.
hundurinn
the dog
góður
good
finnast
to find, to think
mér
me (dative)
einn
one
Questions & Answers about Mér finnst einn hundur góður.
Why is the number one written as einn here?
In Icelandic, the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 change their form to match the gender and case of the noun they are counting. Since hundur (dog) is a masculine word in the nominative case, the number one takes the masculine nominative form, einn.
Why does the sentence start with Mér instead of Ég?
The verb finnst (to find, to think, to seem) requires its subject to be in the dative case. Icelandic phrases this literally as "To me seems...". Mér is the dative form of ég (I).
Since I am having the opinion about the dog, shouldn't einn hundur be in the accusative (object) case?
It might feel like it should be an object, but because of how finnst works, it is actually the grammatical subject! Since the sentence literally means "One dog seems good to me", the phrase einn hundur stays in the basic nominative case.
Why does the verb finnst end in -st?
Verbs ending in -st are in a special form (often called the middle voice). For now, just memorize finnst as a set vocabulary word used for expressing opinions. It doesn't change its ending for "I", "you", "he", or "she"—it stays finnst as long as the thing you are having an opinion about is singular.
Why use góður instead of gott?
Adjectives must match the noun they describe. Because hundur is a masculine, singular noun in the nominative case, the adjective takes the matching masculine form góður. If you were talking about a neuter word like an apple (epli), you would use gott.
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