Breakdown of Hann reyndi að kenna mér.
hann
he
mér
me (dative)
að
to (infinitive marker)
reyna
to try (attempt)
kenna
to teach
Questions & Answers about Hann reyndi að kenna mér.
Why does the past tense of reyna end in -di (reyndi) instead of -ði or -ti?
The verb reyna (to try) is a weak verb that forms its past tense with a suffix. Because the stem ends in the voiced consonant n, it takes the -di ending.
Would reyndi change if the subject was I instead of he?
No, it would look exactly the same! For these weak verbs in the simple past tense, the forms for ég (I), hann (he), hún (she), and það (it) are identical.
What is the purpose of að in this sentence?
Here, að is the infinitive marker, just like the word to in English. It links the main verb reyndi (tried) with the action being attempted, kenna (teach), creating the phrase að kenna (to teach).
Why is the word for me mér instead of mig?
The verb kenna (to teach) forces the person being taught into the dative case. Therefore, the basic pronoun ég (I) changes to its dative form, mér.
Learn Hann reyndi að kenna mér and more in Icelandic
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free