Sá Explained

This post will discuss how the word sá is used.

Inflection

Below, find the inflection table for sá. Sá is a demonstrative pronoun, so it declined for case, gender and plurality. Interstingly, its plural inflection is the same as hann. The neuter singular is just það, too. If you have studied Icelandic inflection, the rest should seem pretty familiar as well.

Singular sá	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	sá	sú	það
Accusative	þann	þá	það
Dative	þeim	þeirri	því
Genitive	þess	þeirrar	þess

Plural sá	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	þeir	þær	þau
Accusative	þá	þær	þau
Dative	þeim	þeim	þeim
Genitive	þeirra	þeirra	þeirra

Why is sá confusing?

The problem, in my view, is that sá does not have a universal English translation, but, despite this, most sources will tell you that sá just means that. Unfortunately, that is not really true.

Consider the following sentences:

Example 1: Hann fæddist þann 5. mars árið 2001. - (He was born on March 5, 2001.)
Example 2: Spurningin er sú hve stór sprengingin verður. - (The quesiton is: how big will the explosion be?)
Example 3: Þann græna! - (The green one!)

You will notice two main problems: (1) none of those sentences have translations that include the word that; and (2) the word sá is actually best mapped onto other words altogether. What's more, if you are familiar with þessi, you will remember the word þessi typically means this/that. All of that to say, the typical advice is, in this author's view, pretty useless.

Intead, it is more accurate to say that sá has a wide number of different meanings and usages, some of which roughtly tie to one of English's idea of that.

Specifying

Sá is a demonstrative pronoun, meaning that it is used to point to a specific thing to the exclusion of others. This puts the word in the same company as þessi. Keeping this big-picture idea in mind helps many of the usages of sá make sense.

Please note that all of the following meanings have fuzzy edges, meaning they blend into eachother at some level.

The one who

Sá is often used without an accompanying noun to refer to people, meaning the one who/that. This usage is always paired with the word sem, and almost always uses a masculine or feminine form--except when refering to children (barn)--since people are being refered to. While the nominative forms are most common here, other cases are possible.

Example 1: Þú ert sá sem þeir leita að.- (You are the one that they seek.)
Example 2: Þú ert sú sem ég elska. - (You are the one that I love.)
Example 3: Sá sem á þennan bíl skal gefa sig fram við skrifstofu. - (The one who owns this car should make themselves known to the office.)
Example 4: Hann drap þá sem ég elskaði.- (He killed the one that I loved.)
Example 5: Hun hjálpar þeim sem hjálpa öðrum. - (She helps those that help others. )

Note: The "sá" in example 4 could refer to either a single woman or a group of people.

This meaning is often used with proverbs, sayings, and the like.

Example 6: Sá sem eignast vin eignast fjársjóð. - (One who gets a friend gets a treasure.)

Clarifying

Sá is often used when there are multiple options to clarify a certain one.

Example 1: Hvað heitir plantan á myndinni, sú neðri? - (What do you call the plant in the picture, the lower one?)
Example 2: Er þetta sú Asa sem þú ert að leita að? - (Is that the Ása that you were looking for?)
Example 3: Maður nokkur hét Jón. Sá maður var bóndi. - (A certain man's name was Jón. Said man was a farmer.)

This meaning is often accompanied by an adjective that is specific to one of the things. These adjectives must be in a weak form.

Example 3: "Hvaða bíl viltu? Þann rauða? - (Which car do you want? The red one?)

The thing that

When a noun is present with sá, the meaning is much the same: the (thing) that to the exclusion of others. These examples are a bit more complicated to explain.

Example 1: Þetta er það hús sem brann. - (The is the house that burned.)

In this example, it may be very hard to see why það hús is used instead of húsið. However, there is nuance here. This sentence would be used, for example, when showing somebody a house, one that burned, when that house was already specificaly mentioned before in the past. This gets to the recursive nature of sá. The house that burned is not being used to describe the house in relation to all other houses, but it is rather being used to explain that it is the house, as that we discussed earlier, that burned.

Example 2: Alríkisdómari kvað upp þann úrskurð í dag að Bandaríkjaforseti hafi brotið lög. - (A federal judge issued a ruling today that the President of the United States broke the law.)

In this example, a similar phenomenon is happening where the use of úrskurðinn may seem more logical. In addition, the word að is triggering the sá instead of the expected sem. However, when considering this word's purpose, the að is going on to explain what the judge's ruling said, much like how sem typically begins a clause that more narrowly describes a noun.

The use of sá is appropaire here because the ruling is still definite, it wasn't just a random ruling, it was the specific ruling, such as is explained by the clause.

Dates

The form þann typically, but optionally, appears at the start of dates, before the day. This is the most detached meaning of sá, in my opinion, from the big-picture meaning, and is best learned seperately, hence why it appears seperately here.

Example 1: Hann fæddist þann 5. mars árið 2001. - (He was born on March 5, 2001.)
Example 2: Krossfararnir komu til Jerúsalem þann 7. júní árið 1099 - (The crusaders came to Jerusalum on June 7th, 1099.)

The þann can be removed completely and no meaning chance occurs.

Example 3: Hann fæddist 5. mars árið 2001. - (He was born on March 5, 2001.)

Abstract nouns that call for an explanation

Some definite nouns naturally call for a clause to explain them. They are difficult to describe precisely as a group, but they typically serve as labels for ideas related to problems, solutions, or situations. They are most often followed by the construction er sá/sú/það að, which introduces the explanatory clause. Below is a list of common examples of such nouns:

Example 1: Sannleikurinn er sá að... - (The truth is...)
Example 2: Ástæðan er sú að... - (The reason is...)
Example 3: Vandamálið er það að... - (The problem is...)
Example 4: Spurningin er sú að... - (The question is...)
Example 5: Tilgangurinn er sá að... - (The purpose is...)
Example 6: Munurinn er sá að... - (The difference is...)
Example 7: Veruleikinn er sá að... - (The reality is...)
Example 8: Árangurinn er sá að... - (The result is...)
Example 9: Afleiðingin er sú að... (The consequence is...)
Example 10: Lausnin er sú að... (The solution is)

To help understnad the translation, the phrase such that can be inserted at the end of the translations. This can help to mentally justify why the sa is needed in the structure.

Exmaple 11: Raunveruleikinn er sá að menn búa ekki á tunglinu. - (The truth is such that men do not live on the moon.)