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Questions & Answers about Í dag faðmast þau.
How does faðmast differ from the regular verb faðma?
The base verb faðma means to hug someone else. When we add the -st ending to make it faðmast (middle voice), it makes the action reciprocal. Because of this, the action is shared and translates to hugging each other.
Why does the verb come before the subject here (faðmast þau instead of þau faðmast)?
This happens because of the V2 (verb-second) rule. Since the time phrase Í dag (Today) takes the first position in the sentence, the verb faðmast must jump into the second position. The subject þau is then pushed to the third position.
Why is the pronoun þau used for "they" instead of þeir or þær?
Icelandic has three words for "they": þeir (all males), þær (all females), and þau (neuter). We use the neuter þau when a group includes a mix of males and females, or when we are talking about people in general without specifying their gender.