íbúðum

íbúum is the dative plural form of the Icelandic noun íbúi, which means inhabitant or resident. The word íbúi denotes a person who lives in a particular place, such as a town, country, or building. Its nominative plural is íbúar.

Grammatical notes: Íbúi is a masculine noun. The dative plural form is íbúum, and it is used with verbs and prepositions that require the dative case. For example, after the preposition til (to) in phrases like til íbúum landsins, meaning “to the inhabitants of the country.”

Usage: In contemporary Icelandic, íbúi and its inflected forms appear in demographic, sociological, and administrative writing, as well as in descriptive prose referring to residents of places. The form íbúum is most common in phrases indicating recipients or beneficiaries or in locative-dative constructions.

Examples: Til íbúum borgarinnar (to the inhabitants of the city). Rætt var við íbúum hússins (The residents of the house were spoken to). These examples illustrate how the dative plural functions in expressions involving groups of people living in a location.

See also: íbúi, íbúar.