Breakdown of Strákurinn hræðist kuldann af því að honum er alltaf kalt.
vera
to be
strákurinn
the boy
alltaf
always
hræðast
to fear
honum
him (dative)
kaldur
cold
af því að
because
kuldinn
the cold
Questions & Answers about Strákurinn hræðist kuldann af því að honum er alltaf kalt.
Why do we use the dative pronoun honum instead of the nominative hann here?
In Icelandic, when you talk about feeling hot or cold, the phrase is impersonal. It literally translates to 'to him is cold'. The person experiencing the temperature is put in the dative case, which is why we use honum instead of hann.
Since strákurinn is a masculine word, shouldn't the adjective be kaldur instead of kalt?
In impersonal phrases, the adjective does not agree with the person feeling the temperature. Because the person is in the dative case (honum), there is no nominative subject for the adjective to match. When there is no regular subject, Icelandic defaults to the neuter singular form of the adjective, which is kalt.
Why are there two completely different words for 'cold' (kuldann and kalt) in this sentence?
They are different parts of speech that translate to the same English word. Kuldann is a noun meaning 'the cold' (from the masculine noun kuldi), with the definite article attached. Kalt is an adjective describing the temperature the boy feels.
Why does the verb hræðist end in '-st'?
This is a middle voice verb. Many Icelandic words relating to feelings, thoughts, or states of mind take this '-st' ending. You might remember this from the verb finnst (to find or think). The base verb here is hræðast (to fear), and it becomes hræðist for 'he fears'.
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