Second-Person Merging
To wrap up the Introduction to Icelandic unit, it is important to learn about the second person.
What Is Second-Person Merging?
It is very common for a second-person pronoun (þú or þið) to follow directly after a second-person conjugated verb. This happens all the time when asking somebody or a group a question about themselves.
Example 1: Ert þú maður? - (Are you a man?)
Example 2: Eruð þið maður og kona? - (Are y'all a man and a woman?)
Example 3: Hvað ert þú að gera? - (What are you doing?)
Example 4: Hver eruð þið að gera? - (What are y'all doing?)
When this happens, there is an option to merge the verb and the second-person pronoun. The entirety of the conjugated verb is used, but the pronoun may have to change slightly, such as changing from þú to -ðu or just -u if a t is already present in the verb's ending, such as happens with að vera in both the present and past.
Example 1: Ertu maður? - (Are you a man?)
Example 2: Eruði maður og kona? - (Are y'all a man and a woman?)
Example 3: Hvað ertu að gera? - (What are you doing?)
Example 4: Hvað eruði að gera? - (What are y'all doing?)
What Does This Change
Merging the verb and second-person pronouns does not change the meaning of the sentence at all, but it does make the sentence quicker and easier to pronounce. Once upon a time, merging the pronoun and verb in this way was considered bad grammar, but that stigma no longer exists today. While merging singular pronouns with their verbs is overwhelmingly favored for singular forms, it is not quite as common for plural forms.
Example 1: Hvað ertu að borða?
Example 2: Hvað varstu að gera?
Example 3: Hvað eruði að gera?
Example 4: Hvað voruði að gera?
How Do I Make These Forms?
While you have only learned to conjugate one verb so far, að vera, second-person merging can happen with any verb. Be on the lookout for this phenomenon happening throughout this course! Below, find some examples of this happening with some verbs you are familiar with and some you aren't yet. Notice how the singular form always ends in a -u and the plural form always ends in a -ði. You can use this knowledge to identify the forms every time they occur.
| Verb | Sing. | Plur. |
|---|---|---|
| Vera | ertu | eruði |
| Baka | bakarðu | bakiði |
| Tala | talarðu | taliði |
| Gera | gerirðu | geriði |
| Fara | ferðu | fariði |
| Vilja | viltu | viljiði |
Now I know:
- what second-person merging is
- that second-person merging does not change the meaning of the sentence
- how to identify second-person merged verb forms