{"id":2336,"date":"2013-06-26T19:09:20","date_gmt":"2013-06-26T19:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/?p=2336"},"modified":"2013-06-26T19:09:20","modified_gmt":"2013-06-26T19:09:20","slug":"using-the-subjunctive-mood-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/2013\/06\/26\/using-the-subjunctive-mood-part-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Using the subjunctive mood, part 3."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In the third part of the subjunctive mood and it’s use we’ll look at negation and subordinate clauses that start with a question word. The rules of either are not always very exact, but I hope to be able to give you some clear guidelines to work with. After all, the subjunctive mood, vi\u00f0tengingarh\u00e1ttur<\/em>, often depends on context and is used to denote uncertainty: hopes, guesses, estimations and so forth.<\/p>\n

Negation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let’s at first go back to this entry<\/a> and look at the lists of vi\u00f0tengingarh\u00e1ttur<\/em>– and frams\u00f6guh\u00e1ttur<\/em>-verbs (= indicative mood), especially the latter. They tend to be always used with the assigned verb forms, with the exception that a negation before the a\u00f0<\/em>-sentence will change things around for the frams\u00f6guh\u00e1ttur group, and then these verbs may occasionally be followed with a vi\u00f0tengingarh\u00e1ttur form instead. It’s actually quite logical, if you think of it like this:<\/p>\n

\u00c9g vissi a\u00f0 hann var heima<\/em>. (= I knew that he was home.)<\/p>\n

But:<\/p>\n

\u00c9g vissi ekki a\u00f0 hann var<\/strong> heima<\/em>. (= I didn’t know that he was home. Meaning: “now I know that he was home back then, but at the time I had no idea”.)<\/p>\n

\u00c9g vissi ekki a\u00f0 hann v\u00e6ri<\/strong> heima.<\/em> (= I didn’t know whether he was home or not. Meaning: “I was not and I’m still not entirely sure of whether he actually was home back then”.)<\/p>\n

In short, if the verb’s meaning is somehow changed from certainty such as “to be sure of” to “not to be sure of”, it may be – or should I say it’s even more likely that it’s followed by a vi\u00f0tengingarh\u00e1ttur form. These two forms can also be deliberately used to explain the level of uncertainty, as in the above example where a speaker can choose two different ways of saying “I did not know if he was home” depending on whether they want to stress that he actually was definitely home, or if that is still not quite certain.<\/p>\n

In fact, since people rarely are absolutely 100% certain when they’re speaking in estimations, guesses etc. you will see the vi\u00f0tengingarh\u00e1ttur used much more often.<\/p>\n

Hann s\u00e1 a\u00f0 h\u00fan t\u00f3k<\/strong> b\u00f3kina.<\/em> (= He saw that she took the book.)<\/p>\n

Hann s\u00e1 ekki a\u00f0 h\u00fan t\u00e6ki<\/strong> b\u00f3kina.<\/em> (= He did not see whether she took the book or not.)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Iceland, 11.30 p.m. Summers are really light over here!<\/em><\/p>\n

Order of words<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before we go to subordinate clauses that begin with a question word, I’m going to speak of the typical word order in a sentence – don’t worry, this’ll be quick!<\/p>\n

This is the word order of a short main clause:<\/p>\n

H\u00fan \u00e6tlar<\/strong> a\u00f0 hlaupa<\/em>. (= She’s going to run\/she plans to run.)<\/p>\n

\u00cd dag \u00e6tlar h\u00fan<\/strong> a\u00f0 hlaupa<\/em>. (= Today she plans to run\/today she’s going to run.)<\/p>\n

In general the subject goes before the verb, but if you define time in the beginning of the sentence the subject and the verb will change places. Reversely it’s not possible to say “\u00e6tlar h\u00fan a\u00f0 hlaupa<\/em>” (= this changes the meaning into “is she going to run?”) or “\u00ed dag h\u00fan \u00e6tlar a\u00f0 hlaupa<\/em>” (grammatically wrong). Another example that involves an object could be:<\/p>\n

\u00deau bor\u00f0a<\/strong> mat<\/em>. (= They eat food.)<\/p>\n

N\u00fa bor\u00f0a \u00feau<\/strong> mat<\/em>. (= Now they eat food.)<\/p>\n

Again, any notice of what time the activity takes place is going to make the subject and the verb switch around. Question words cause a similar switch:<\/p>\n

Hva\u00f0 \u00e6tlar h\u00fan<\/strong> a\u00f0 gera?<\/em> (= What is she going to do\/what is she planning to do?)<\/p>\n

H\u00fan \u00e6tlar<\/strong> a\u00f0 hlaupa.<\/em> (= She’s going to run\/she’s planning to run.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With that out of the way, the important thing to remember is that with subordinate clauses you won’t be changing the order even if they begin with a question word.<\/p>\n

\u00c9g vissi ekki hvort h\u00fan g\u00e6ti<\/strong> komi\u00f0.<\/em> (= I didn’t know whether she’d be able to come.)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Iceland, 11.00 p.m.<\/em><\/p>\n

Subordinate clause that begins with a hv-word<\/strong><\/p>\n

I’ll be calling these particular clauses\u00a0hv-setning\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>(= subordinate clause that begins with a question word)\u00a0from now on. The question words of Icelandic begin with those two letters, that’s why. There are two groups of verbs that work differently:<\/p>\n

Group A:<\/strong> spyrja<\/em> (to ask), e-m er spurn<\/em> (someone is asked), varpa fram spurningu<\/em> (to propose a question), bera fram spurningu<\/em> (to say\/state a question)<\/p>\n

Group A will always take vi\u00f0tengingarh\u00e1ttur form in a hv-setning. The tenses always mirror each other, if the main clause is in present the sub clause will also be in present tense and vice versa.<\/p>\n

Hann spyr hven\u00e6r \u00fe\u00fa komir<\/strong>.<\/em> (= He asks when you would be coming)(Present)<\/p>\n

Hann spur\u00f0i hven\u00e6r \u00fe\u00fa k\u00e6mir<\/strong>.<\/em> (He asked when you would be coming.)(Past)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Group B<\/strong>: vita<\/em> (to know), segja<\/em> (to say), undrast<\/em> (to wonder), skilja<\/em> (to understand), sj\u00e1<\/em> (to see), efast um<\/em> (to doubt), velta fyrir s\u00e9r<\/em> (to consider), kanna<\/em> (to investigate, to explore), \u00edhuga<\/em> (to consider, to ponder), athuga<\/em> (to notice, to observe), heyra<\/em> (to hear), \u00edmynda s\u00e9r<\/em> (to imagine), grennslast fyrir um e-\u00f0<\/em> (to inquire about something)<\/p>\n

Group B main rules are:<\/p>\n

1) If main sentence is in present tense you will use frams\u00f6guh\u00e1ttur in the hv-sentence.<\/p>\n

2) If the main sentence is in past tense you’ll choose between vi\u00f0tengingarh\u00e1ttur and frams\u00f6guh\u00e1ttur based on the certainty level of the sentence. Both will regardless mirror the tense of the main sentence.<\/p>\n

Examples of rule 1:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hann veit<\/strong> hva\u00f0 hann \u00e1<\/strong> a\u00f0 gera<\/em>. (= He knows what he has to do.)<\/p>\n

\u00c9g skil<\/strong> hva\u00f0 \u00fe\u00fa ert<\/strong> a\u00f0 segja.<\/em> (= I understand what you’re saying.)<\/p>\n

H\u00fan hefur <\/strong>aldrei sagt<\/strong> hven\u00e6r vi\u00f0 eigum<\/strong> a\u00f0 koma<\/em>. (= She has never said when we have to come.)(Note that despite the apparent past tense of the sentence it belongs to this group because the main verb, hafa<\/em>, is in present tense!)<\/p>\n

Examples of rule 2:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hann vissi<\/strong> hva\u00f0 hann \u00e1tti<\/strong> a\u00f0 gera.<\/em> (= He knew what he had to do.)<\/p>\n

Hann vissi<\/strong> hva\u00f0 hann \u00e6tti<\/strong> a\u00f0 gera<\/em>. (= He knew what he would\/might have to do.)<\/p>\n

H\u00fan sag\u00f0i<\/strong> aldrei hven\u00e6r vi\u00f0 \u00e1ttum<\/strong> a\u00f0 koma.<\/em> (= She never said when we had to come.)<\/p>\n

H\u00fan sag\u00f0i<\/strong> aldrei hven\u00e6r vi\u00f0 \u00e6ttum<\/strong> a\u00f0 koma.<\/em> (= She never said when we would have had to come.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now we’re almost completely done with the vi\u00f0tengingarh\u00e1ttur – only one more post to go! I thank you for your patience, since the lessons have spread over several months. The topic is one of the difficult parts of learning Icelandic so don’t despair if it feels hard to understand, if it’s at all available to you read Icelandic texts; the best way to learn this particular part of Icelandic grammar is to see it “in action” as much as possible.<\/p>\n

By the way, I’ve been using Icelandic terms for the grammar posts, partially because the English equivalents don’t always mean exactly the same. Take genitive case for example: Icelandic uses it not only to mark ownership but also with certain prepositions – \u00e9g f\u00f3r til landsins<\/strong> helga<\/em> (= I went to the holy land) – and to create compound words – lungna<\/strong>b\u00f3lga<\/em> (= pneumonia). Another reason is that if anyone of you readers decides to go study Icelandic in a university, chances are that the terms used will be these. If you’re coming over here to study I’d say it’ll definitely happen! \ud83d\ude00 However, if you feel it doesn’t work, just drop me a note. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Subjunctive mood: part 1.<\/a><\/p>\n

Subjunctive mood: part 2.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

In the third part of the subjunctive mood and it’s use we’ll look at negation and subordinate clauses that start with a question word. The rules of either are not always very exact, but I hope to be able to give you some clear guidelines to work with. After all, the subjunctive mood, vi\u00f0tengingarh\u00e1ttur, often…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":2343,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[91175],"tags":[6,91386,91390],"class_list":["post-2336","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-icelandic-grammar","tag-grammar","tag-icelandic-lessons","tag-icelandic-versus-other-languages"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t