Breakdown of Ég hjálpa kunningjum mínum og vinum.
og
and
ég
I
vinurinn
the friend
minn
my (m, f, n: minn, mín, mitt)
hjálpa
to help
kunninginn
the acquaintance
Questions & Answers about Ég hjálpa kunningjum mínum og vinum.
Why are the words for acquaintances and friends in the dative case here?
The verb hjálpa (to help) dictates the case of its objects. In Icelandic, you don't just help someone; you give help to them, so hjálpa always requires its object to be in the dative case. That is why we use the dative forms kunningjum and vinum.
Why is the word for 'my' written as mínum instead of minn?
Possessive pronouns must match the noun they belong to in gender, number, and case. Since hjálpa forces the dative case, and we are talking about plural people, minn changes to its dative plural form, which is mínum.
Both kunningjum and vinum end in -um. Is that a standard plural ending?
Yes, but specifically for the dative plural! No matter what gender a noun is or how it ends in the dictionary form (like the masculine nouns kunningi and vinur), almost all Icelandic nouns end in -um in the dative plural. Notice how the possessive mínum also shares this ending.
Why does mínum come after kunningjum instead of before it?
In English we say 'my acquaintances', putting the possessive first. In Icelandic, possessive pronouns like minn and þinn usually come right after the noun they belong to. So kunningjum mínum follows the normal Icelandic word order.
Does mínum also apply to vinum even though it is next to kunningjum?
Yes. Just like in English where 'my' covers both words in 'my acquaintances and friends', putting mínum after the first noun in the list is enough to show that both groups are yours. You could say kunningjum mínum og vinum mínum, but dropping the second mínum sounds much more natural.
Learn Ég hjálpa kunningjum mínum og vinum 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