# Icelandic: Þar þarf



## ShakeyX

I know before on this forum I have brought up the normal passive, using both verbs that govern the accusative and the dative. I think I am familiar with that.. also I have witnessed the new passive (just correct me if i'm wrong but that takes "Ég var beðinn" into "það var beðið mig" Right??) which are semantically both the same... right? Please someone just check me on that cause I'm unsure.

Anyway I saw this when filling out some forms online when I forgot to fill out everything and clicked submit.

Það þarf að fylla út þessa liði!

Now I know this must be some funky version of the passive but it's unrecognizable to me as of now. Það er þurft or something similar would of registered but this structure I am unsure about. Is it specific? How and why do I construct it.

Thanks


PS. Sorry I can't edit the tittle, it should ofcourse be það þarf


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## Alxmrphi

> (just correct me if i'm wrong but that takes "Ég var beðinn" into "það var beðið mig" Right??) which are semantically both the same... right? Please someone just check me on that cause I'm unsure.


Kórrekt.


> Now I know this must be some funky version of the passive but it's unrecognizable to me as of now. Það er þurft or something similar would of registered but this structure I am unsure about. Is it specific? How and why do I construct it.


Nope, not passive.
It's like how _mega _works or_ eiga_ with the active meaning. We only have an _option_ of _translating_ this as a passive in English, doesn't mean it's passive in Icelandic. 

_Það má ekki reykja_ - Smoking is not permitted
_Hvernig á maður að gera þetta?_ - How should this be done?
_Það þarf að fylla þetta út_ - This needs to be filled in

It's just saying _'it needs_' and then what has to be done.
Simples


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## NoMoreMrIceGuy

ShakeyX said:


> "það var beðið mig"



Please don't ever use this.


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## ShakeyX

Want to add some reasoning as to why not?


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## Alxmrphi

ShakeyX said:


> Want to add some reasoning as to why not?


We talked about it in the other thread.
It's not deemed good usage. I guess it can be hard to look at new languages and have someone say one thing sounds fantastic and another thing sounds horrible.
There are plenty of things that people say in English, somewhere, dialectally or whatever, that you would probably recommend them not to use in writing. This is just one of those things in Icelandic. If you want to pass an exam to test your language skills, this very well could get you a big red cross next to it as an indication you don't know how to form the real passive.


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## NoMoreMrIceGuy

ShakeyX said:


> Want to add some reasoning as to why not?



I frankly don't know whether it's grammatically correct or not, but either way it sounds horrible. It sounds just as bad as if you would say "it was asked me" in English.


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## Donnerstag

ShakeyX said:


> Want to add some reasoning as to why not?



This is the so called "nýja þolmynd". Here's a paper (in Icelandic) about it: www.arnastofnun.is/solofile/1011098

I'd advise you never to use it. Most speakers find it very ungrammatical and downright ugly. For me, it's like the sound of fingernails scraping chalkboard


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## ShakeyX

Yeh I would never think to use it myself, out of curiosity, is it often used in the spoken language, just so I know if I have to look out for it and understand the meaning.

And back to my original point, I do get the meaning, but the fact that "Það þarf að fylla út þessa liði!" has no subject does this kindof construction have no special name or reason. Is the það classed as a dummy subject or what?


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## Alxmrphi

ShakeyX said:


> And back to my original point, I do get the meaning, but the fact that "Það þarf að fylla út þessa liði!" has no subject does this kindof construction have no special name or reason. Is the það classed as a dummy subject or what?



It has a subject just as much as _*it* needs to be done_ has one.
Yes, dummy pronoun (~impersonal construction in terminology relating to Icelandic).
Same idea in both languages.


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