Icelandic Grammar: Impersonal Verbs

Learn how to use impersonal verbs like finnast, langa, vanta, and more with this video!

[@lovisahafdisardottir2229]

Ég mundi aldrei segja hann vantar grímu. Ég mundi segja honum vantar grímu

[@buyersremorse7106]

Another helpful video. Post on bro

[@electricc437]

I was very surprised when i found out about these. Btw, I appreciate these lessons! Thank you.

[@ramishokry489]

please keep making more videos. Its really helpful

[@loquamuriaemea6166]

MANY MANY THANKS for outstanding presentations -- clean, clear, and to the point, all the while being linguistically correct, and assuming us to be an intelligent audience! Þykja calls to mind "methinks" as prior commentator noted, along with syntax of archaic German "dünken" or poetic as in Rilke's famous "Ihm ist (als ob es tausend stäbe gäbe)..." (Similarly Spanish: "Me gusta" or "me caye" structures.) So much like ancient Greek & Latin. Dunno if other listeners might benefit from other cross-Germanic comparisons such as with **kennen/wissen/können** lexical differentiations, so very close to **þekkja-vita-kunna** -- of course, it could prove a distraction. Again, really super, top-quality work!

[@icelandicforforeigners]

Great comment! Definitely a lot of cross-linguisitc similarities between Germanic languages, but I didn't know about the connections with Greek and Latin. Thank you for sharing.

[@ragnakleinen2109]

The whole "mér finnst..." word construction is much like the german "ich finde...", means the same, but we say the equivalent of I instead of me

[@FrozenMermaid666]

Not really, it literally means to me (it) finds, and honestly these verbs like vantar and langar go better with the dative, so it makes sense that most use the dative forms because the action is done by the verb actually and it is done to the subject - mér langer = to me (it) longs (to) and mér vantar = to me it misses (wants) something, so it’s similar to Spanish verbs like, me falta algo / a mi me faltan algunas cosas etc, so mig vantar literally means me falta in Spanish and mér vantar is literally a mi (me) falta ago, so both are logically correct in a way, just slightly different ways of wording the idea!

[@ThorirPP]

One rule of thumb I learned about the objects of impersonal verbs (when not using a preposition as in "mig langar í") was that verbs that take a accusative subject take an accusative object (so "mig dreymir draum") but verbs that take a dative subject take a nominative object ("mér finnst þeir skemmtilegir")

[@icelandicforforeigners]

Thanks for the comment! I don't know if that's always true but it seems like a helpful trick!

[@popcorn5866]

Hey! Could you make a video about some pronunciation stuff that is happening in Icelandic, for example to clarify when "kt" gets pronounced "cht" (as in German Bach, that is) and when "þađ" gets pronounced "tađ" or "ta" and so on? I am always pretty confused about how Icelanders contract their words and do some kind of liaisons.

[@icelandicforforeigners]

I made pronunciation videos about all the letters, including K, which describes when it turns into the German "ch." I haven't made one about sound dropping yet, hopefully I can get to that soon. I don't think það should ever be pronounced tað or ta, but it is often pronounced ðað and ða.

[@xplant933]

We have this feature in Spanish too! It’s kind of weird haha

[@mattmoon3865]

Takk takk!

[@ylchen77]

I used to think finna asks þf , but mér finnst fiskur góður. ( kk, et , nf .) Henni finnst gaman að keyra . gaman is a noun , hk, et . nf . Okkur finnst leiðilegt leiðilegt is an adv . Fannst þér hún kaupa inn ? This type of structure becomes clear and easy after your lecturing . Thank you very much . By the way , I wonder why we use finnast rather than finna ?

[@icelandicforforeigners]

We use finna when we want to talk about "finding" something. For example, you could say: Ég fann fiskinn (I found the fish). Adding the -st implies that the fish is being found (not by me) a certain way, and using the dative "mér" is saying that I am receiving the impression of how it is found. Mér finnst fiskurinn góður: the fish (to me) is found good. Don't overthink it :) I think it's better to view it as a set expression that needs to be learned on its own and used often.

[@bozenaxxx6811]

Takk fyrir :)

[@Thetoxictiger1980]

Phew! I can barely pronounce Eyjafjallajökull! Bless bless

[@user-zj2gx5pd9k]

Thanks a lot for the great video, but i think i need more explanations about the rules about it.. 1. In the sentence ´Mér finnst að ég ætti að skrifa bók´, is að necessary or could be omitted? 2. There is an infinitive form in ´'Krökkunum fannst hún tala of hratt', but there isn´t in ´Mér finnst eins og ég sé að klikkast´ or ´Mér finnst að ég ætti að skrifa bók´. What is the difference? How come sjá and eiga aren´t used? 3, In the sentence ´Mér finnst eins og ég sé að klikkast´, the word klikkast seemed middle voice according to bín. Why is the middle voice supposed to be there? And when should we use middle voice? 4, Is it possible to use finnast only with nominative adjective just like þykja in ´Davíði þykir mjög vænt um hana´? Or is finnast only available at the occasion in which the noun is supposed to be?

[@icelandicforforeigners]

These are great questions. As I mentioned, Finnast is unique and its usage is difficult to conceptualize. That's why it's best to learn some examples and build off them. I'll try to answer your questions as well as I can: 1. Að cannot be omitted, at least not in formal speech and writing. I'm not sure about informal speech, but I think it's safer to use it because dropping að would change the format of the sentence and you would need to say "mér finnst ég eiga að skrifa bók," which has the same meaning but uses the infinitive. 2. That's right. When you use "að" or "eins og," you're introducing a dependent clause, which is why you need to conjugate the verb (usually in the subjunctive). There isn't a major difference in meaning between sentences which use að, eins og, and the infinitive, but they are all common ways of using finnst. 3. The verb klikka can have two meanings, depending on whether it is in the active voice or the middle voice. When it is used in the middle voice, it means "to go crazy." 4. Yes, for example: mér finnst gott að dansa. I think it's good to dance. Let me know if you have any other questions!

[@idonthaveausername8658]

"quirky subject" is another name for this, or so i've read

[@icelandicforforeigners]

Yes, I've heard that name too!

[@justaname1837]

Interestingly, "mér finnst ..." reminds me of "methinks".

[@icelandicforforeigners]

Yes, that's a good example of an impersonal verb in archaic English!