Breakdown of Þú finnur myndirnar í fornum kössum.
myndin
the picture
þú
you
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
finna
to find
kassinn
the box
forn
ancient
Questions & Answers about Þú finnur myndirnar í fornum kössum.
Why do both fornum and kössum end in -um?
The preposition í (in) triggers the dative case here because it describes a fixed location. The plural of kassi (box) in the dative is kössum. The adjective forn (antique) must match the noun it describes, and the strong dative plural ending for adjectives is also -um, giving us fornum.
Is the strong dative plural ending -um the same for all noun genders?
Yes! The dative plural is one of the most consistent forms in Icelandic. Whether the noun is masculine, feminine, or neuter, a strong adjective describing it in the dative plural will always take the -um ending.
Why does the vowel change from a in kassi to ö in kössum?
This happens because of a common Icelandic rule called U-shift. When a word has an a in its root and gets an ending with a u in it (like the -um ending here), that a gets pulled to an ö.
Why isn't myndirnar (the pictures) also in the dative case?
The word myndirnar is the direct object of the verb finna (to find), which requires the accusative case. The dative case in this sentence is only applied to the words directly following the preposition í.
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