Breakdown of Safnarinn sýnir okkur bókina með sérstökum ljósmyndum.
bókin
the book
okkur
us
sýna
to show
með
with
Questions & Answers about Safnarinn sýnir okkur bókina með sérstökum ljósmyndum.
Why do both sérstökum and ljósmyndum end in -um?
The preposition með (with) forces the words that follow it into the dative case. Because we are talking about plural photographs, we need the dative plural form. The strong dative plural ending for adjectives of all genders is -um, making it very easy to match with regular plural nouns, which also end in -um in the dative!
Why is okkur (us) in the dative case, while bókina (the book) is in the accusative?
The verb sýna (to show) takes two objects. The person receiving the action (who you are showing something to) takes the dative case, which is why we use okkur. The actual thing being shown takes the accusative case, giving us bókina.
What is the dictionary form of sérstökum, and why did the a change to an ö?
The dictionary form is sérstakur (special). When we add a grammatical ending that contains the letter u—like the dative plural -um—the a in the root of the word changes to an ö. This is the classic "U-shift" rule that you will see happening in many Icelandic adjectives and nouns.
Does með always trigger the dative case?