Breakdown of Þau meiða sig ekki í ræktinni.
ekki
not
þau
they (n)
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
meiða
to hurt
ræktin
the gym
sig
himself/herself/themselves (acc)
Questions & Answers about Þau meiða sig ekki í ræktinni.
Why does the sentence use sig for themselves? Doesn't sig mean himself or herself?
In Icelandic, the reflexive pronoun sig is used for all third-person subjects, both singular and plural. So whether the subject is hann (he), hún (she), or þau (they), the word for himself, herself, or themselves is always sig (or its dative form sér).
Why do we need the word sig here at all?
The verb meiða means to hurt or to injure. If you leave out sig, it sounds like they are hurting someone else but forgot to say who! Adding sig shows that the action reflects back on the subject: they hurt themselves.
Could I say þeir or þær instead of þau for they?
Yes, depending on who is at the gym! Þau is the neuter plural, used for a mixed group of males and females. If you were talking about a group of only men, you would use þeir, and for a group of only women, you would use þær. In all of these cases, the reflexive pronoun sig stays exactly the same.
Why is the word for gym spelled ræktinni instead of ræktin?
Ræktinni is the dative case form of ræktin (the gym). The preposition í (in) takes the dative case when you are talking about a fixed location where an action happens, rather than moving toward a new destination.
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