Breakdown of Mér líkar vel á Íslandi.
vel
well
mér
me (dative)
líka
to like
á
onto / on / in (static location) / on (a day of the week)
Ísland
Iceland
Questions & Answers about Mér líkar vel á Íslandi.
Why is Iceland in the dative case here (Íslandi)?
Because of the preposition á. When á describes a static location (meaning someone or something is just resting or existing there), the noun following it takes the dative case. Íslandi is the dative form of the bare singular noun Ísland.
Why do we use á instead of í for "in Iceland"?
In Icelandic, you generally use á (on) rather than í (in) when talking about being in Iceland, simply because it is an island. You will see this apply to many other islands as well.
Why does the sentence start with Mér instead of Ég?
The verb líka (to like) is a bit quirky. Instead of taking a normal subject like Ég (I), it requires the person doing the liking to be in the dative case. Mér is the dative form of ég, so the sentence literally translates closer to "To me is pleasing...".
If the sentence means "I like", why does the verb end in -ar (líkar)? Isn't that the "he/she/it" ending?
Great catch! Because Mér is in the dative case, it doesn't control the verb ending like a normal subject would. Instead, the verb líka just stays in its default third-person singular form, which is líkar.
What is the word vel doing here?
The word vel means "well". In Icelandic, to simply say you like something, you almost always pair the verb líka with vel. Saying Mér líkar on its own feels incomplete, so we say it pleases us "well".
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