Breakdown of Ég hef áhyggjur af þessari eyðslu.
ég
I
af
off
þessi
this (m/f)
hafa
to have
áhyggjurnar
the worries
eyðslan
the spending
Questions & Answers about Ég hef áhyggjur af þessari eyðslu.
Why do we say hef áhyggjur instead of using a verb like "worry"?
In Icelandic, it is very common to express states of mind by "having" a noun. Instead of saying "I worry," you say ég hef áhyggjur (literally "I have worries"). Áhyggjur is the plural form of the noun áhyggja.
Why is þessari eyðslu in the dative case?
It is controlled by the preposition af (about/of). The preposition af always forces the noun phrase that follows it into the dative case. This is the exact same rule you use when saying mikið af (a lot of) followed by a dative mass noun!
Is eyðsla (spending) considered an uncountable mass noun here?
Yes! Just like in English, spending is an uncountable concept. You cannot count it with numbers. If you wanted to say "a lot of spending" using the grammar from this lesson, you would say mikið af eyðslu, keeping it in the dative case.
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