Subjunctive After Conjunctions (þótt, svo að, áður en)

Some Icelandic subordinating conjunctions simply demand the subjunctive in the clause they introduce — not as a stylistic flourish, but because of what the conjunction means. "Although it rains," "so that you understand," "unless you come" all describe situations that are conceded, aimed at, or hypothesised rather than asserted as fact, and the subjunctive (viðtengingarháttur) is Icelandic's marker of exactly that non-factual status. This page covers the conjunctions in that group: concessive þótt / þó að "although," purpose svo að and til þess að "so that, in order that," conditional nema "unless," and áður en "before" in certain uses. It does not cover plain conditional ef "if" (that has its own conditionals page). Mastering this small set is one of the clearest dividing lines between textbook-correct and genuinely idiomatic Icelandic — and it hides two traps that catch nearly every learner: the purpose-vs-result split after svo að, and the difference between the adverb þó and the conjunction þó að.

Why these conjunctions take the subjunctive

The logic is the same one that governs the whole mood. The indicative asserts a fact; the subjunctive marks a clause as not asserted. Now look at what these conjunctions do to their clause. þótt það rigni grants the rain for the sake of argument — you are conceding it as a hypothetical, not stating it as a fact you're committed to. svo að þú skiljir names a goal not yet achieved — the understanding is the aim, not (yet) a reality. nema þú komir sets up a condition whose truth is open. In every case the clause's content sits in the realm of the hypothetical, the aimed-at, or the conceded — the subjunctive's home territory. So the rule is not arbitrary memorisation; once you see that these conjunctions all frame their clause as non-factual, the subjunctive follows naturally.

Concession: þótt / þó að 'although'

The concessive conjunction is þótt, which is simply þó að ("though that") fused into one word — you will meet both spellings, and they are interchangeable. A concessive clause grants something hypothetically ("granting that X, even so Y"), and Icelandic marks that hypothetical granting with the subjunctive. The verb in the þótt-clause goes into the present subjunctive for an open concession, or the past subjunctive for a counterfactual one.

Notice the word order in the second example: a fronted concessive clause is one constituent in the first slot of the main clause, so the main verb inverts with its subject (ætlum við, not *við ætlum). That is the general behaviour of any fronted subordinate clause and is covered on the subordinating conjunctions page; what matters here is the subjunctive inside the þótt-clause.

The trap: þó (adverb) vs þó að / þótt (conjunction)

This is the subtlest error in the whole topic. Bare þó — without að — is not the concessive conjunction. It is a sentence adverb meaning "however, still, nevertheless," and it does not govern a subjunctive, because it doesn't introduce a subordinate clause at all. The concessive conjunction is þó að (two words) or its fusion þótt (one word); the adverb is þó standing alone. Swapping them produces either a missing subjunctive or a missing clause.

So the test is mechanical: if there is an að (or you can swap in þótt) and it heads a clause, it is the concessive conjunction and you need the subjunctive; if þó sits alone inside a main clause as "however / still," it is the adverb and the verb stays indicative.

Purpose: svo að / til þess að 'so that, in order that'

A purpose clause names a goal — what you are doing something in order to bring about. Because the goal is by definition not yet realised, the purpose conjunctions svo að and the more emphatic til þess að ("in order that") take the subjunctive. This is one of the highest-yield subjunctives to internalise, because purpose clauses are everywhere in ordinary explanation: "I'll write it down so that you remember," "speak slowly so that they understand."

svo að + subjunctive (purpose) vs svo að + indicative (result)

Here is the meaning-bearing distinction that makes svo að worth a section of its own. The very same conjunction svo að can introduce either a purpose clause or a result clause — and the mood tells them apart. With the subjunctive, svo að means purpose ("so that, in order that," an aim). With the indicative, it means result ("so that, with the result that," a consequence that actually happened). The choice of mood is not optional decoration; it changes the meaning.

The deeper structure: a result is a fact (it happened), so it takes the indicative; a purpose is an aim (it may or may not come about), so it takes the subjunctive. This purpose/result split, and the related svo … að "so … that" construction, are developed further on the advanced clause-linking page; the rule to carry away is that after svo að, the mood encodes the meaning — subjunctive = purpose, indicative = result.

Conditional: nema 'unless'

nema "unless, except" introduces a negative condition — "unless X" = "except in the case that X." Because it sets up a hypothetical condition, nema governs the subjunctive (present for an open condition, past for a remote one). English "unless" keeps the indicative ("I won't go unless you come"), so this is a pure transfer trap.

áður en 'before': sometimes the subjunctive

áður en "before" is a two-word temporal conjunction that usually takes the indicative for a plain sequence of events (hann fór áður en ég kom "he left before I came"). But it shifts to the subjunctive when the before-clause describes something anticipated, intended, or not-yet-real from the standpoint of the main clause — a forward-looking "before it happens" rather than a recorded "before it did." This is a genuinely optional, meaning-sensitive use, and you will hear both; the subjunctive lends an anticipatory, prospective colour.

Common Mistakes

þótt / þó að governs the subjunctive because it grants its clause hypothetically. The indicative er asserts the wealth as a flat fact, which clashes with the concessive frame.

A purpose is an unrealised goal, so the clause after svo að / til þess að takes the subjunctive. (Indicative skilur would force the unintended "result" reading.)

nema sets up a hypothetical negative condition, so its verb is subjunctive. English "unless" keeps the indicative, which is the source of the error.

Bare þó is the adverb "however / still," not the conjunction. To head a concessive clause you need þó að (two words) or its fusion þótt.

Don't reach for the conjunction þótt when you only want the adverbial "though / however" — that role belongs to bare þó sitting inside a main clause, with the verb in the indicative.

Key Takeaways

• A set of conjunctions governs the subjunctive because their clause is not asserted as fact: concession (þótt / þó að), purpose (svo að, til þess að), and the negative condition (nema).
• þótt = þó + að, fused; both spellings are equivalent and both take the subjunctive (þótt hann *sé ríkur*).
• Beware the adverb/conjunction split: bare þó = "however / still" (indicative, main clause); þó að / þótt = "although" (subjunctive, subordinate clause). The að is your signal.
• After svo að, the mood is meaning-bearing: subjunctive = purpose ("so that you may understand"), indicative = result ("so that everyone understood — and did").
• nema "unless" takes the subjunctive (nema þú komir), where English "unless" keeps the indicative — a pure transfer trap.
• áður en "before" takes the subjunctive optionally, for anticipated/prospective events (áður en gestirnir komi), and the indicative for plain narrated sequences (áður en fundurinn *var búinn*).