Breakdown of Skólinn þarf mikið af fjármagni núna.
skólinn
the school
mikið
a lot
núna
now
þurfa
to need
af
of (in quantity expressions)
fjármagnið
the capital
Questions & Answers about Skólinn þarf mikið af fjármagni núna.
Why is fjármagni in the dative case? Doesn't þarf usually take an accusative object?
It is in the dative because of the preposition af. Even though the verb þurfa (to need) takes an accusative object, the direct object in this sentence is the word mikið. The preposition af (of) always forces the noun right after it into the dative case, changing fjármagn to fjármagni.
Can I say this without using af?
Yes, you can! You could say Skólinn þarf mikið fjármagn. If you remove af, the noun fjármagn becomes the direct object of þurfa, so it goes into the accusative case (which happens to look identical to the nominative for this neuter word). Both versions are perfectly natural and mean the same thing.
Why do we use the form mikið here instead of mikill or mikil?
When used in the phrase mikið af (a lot of) to talk about uncountable amounts, mikið acts as a fixed neuter noun meaning 'a large amount.' It stays in this neuter form no matter what gender the following noun has.
What is the literal meaning of the word fjármagni?
The dictionary form is fjármagn, which is a compound word. It is made from fé (which means wealth or money, and turns into fjár- in compounds) and magn (meaning amount or quantity). So it literally translates to 'wealth-amount,' which we use to mean capital or funding.
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