Við förgum spilliefninu.

we

Breakdown of Við förgum spilliefninu.

• spilliefnið: the hazardous waste
• farga: to dispose of

Questions & Answers about Við förgum spilliefninu.

Why is the verb förgum and not farga?

Because farga is the infinitive form, meaning the dictionary form to dispose of / to get rid of.

In the sentence, the verb has to be conjugated to match við (we), so Icelandic uses the 1st person plural present form:

• að farga = to dispose of
• við förgum = we dispose of

So förgum means we dispose of / we are disposing of.

Why does a change to ö in förgum?

This is بسبب an Icelandic sound change usually called u-umlaut.

The verb stem is farg-, but when the ending -um is added, the a in the stem changes to ö:

• underlying pattern: farg + um
• actual form: förgum

This kind of vowel change is very common in Icelandic and is something you simply learn as part of the conjugation pattern.

What exactly does -um mean in förgum?

Here -um is the ending for the 1st person plural present tense of the verb.

So in this sentence:

• við = we
• förg-um = dispose-we

You do not translate -um by itself in English, but it is the part that tells you the subject is we.