Breakdown of Kom hingað og gef mér vatnið!
og
and
koma
to come
mér
me (dative)
vatnið
the water
hingað
here (direction)
gefa
to give
Questions & Answers about Kom hingað og gef mér vatnið!
How do we form the command words kom and gef?
In Icelandic, the singular imperative (command form) is usually just the stem of the verb. You find this by taking the infinitive (the dictionary form) of the verb, like koma (to come) or gefa (to give), and dropping the final -a. This leaves you with the commands kom and gef.
I have often heard Icelanders say komdu instead of kom. Are they both right?
Yes! While kom is the basic grammatical command form, Icelanders very often attach the word þú (you) to the end of the verb. When attached, it changes into -ðu, -du, or -tu. So komdu (come!) and gefðu (give!) are actually much more common in everyday spoken Icelandic than just kom and gef.
Why does the sentence use hingað for here instead of hér?
Icelandic has different words for here depending on whether there is movement. You use hér when someone or something is already located in a place. You use hingað when there is motion towards a place, like the old English word hither. Since the command is to move to this place, we use hingað.
Why is me translated as mér instead of mig?
The verb gefa (to give) takes two objects: the thing being given, and the person receiving it. In Icelandic, the person receiving the object is always in the dative case. Mér is the dative form of ég (I).
What form is the word vatnið in?
It is the neuter noun vatn (water) with the definite article suffix -ið attached to the end, making it the water. It is in the accusative case here because it is the direct object (the thing being given). For neuter nouns like this one, the accusative form looks exactly the same as the dictionary form.
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