Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Hún pantaði salat, þó að veðrið væri kalt. - She ordered a salad, although the weather was cold.

Because concessive clauses introduced by þó að commonly take the subjunctive. væri is the past subjunctive of vera; var is past indicative.

Present-time concessive: þó að veðrið sé kalt
Past-time concessive: þó að veðrið væri kalt Using indicative (þó að veðrið var kalt) occurs in casual speech but is not standard.

Is þó að always followed by the subjunctive?

Yes in careful/standard Icelandic, concessive clauses with þó (að), þótt, and enda þótt prefer the subjunctive. Everyday speech sometimes uses the indicative, but learners should stick to the subjunctive.

Can I say þótt or drop að?

Yes. Variants:

þó að veðrið væri kalt
þó veðrið væri kalt (dropping að)
þótt veðrið væri kalt
enda þótt veðrið væri kalt (a bit more formal/emphatic) All take the subjunctive.

What’s the difference between þó (að) and þrátt fyrir (að)?

þó (að) and þótt are conjunctions introducing a clause: þó að veðrið væri kalt.
þrátt fyrir is a preposition meaning “despite/in spite of,” followed by a noun phrase: þrátt fyrir kuldann; or by a clause with að: þrátt fyrir að veðrið væri kalt. Mood is still subjunctive in the clause.

Why is there a comma before the concessive clause, and what happens to word order if I put the concessive clause first?

Icelandic normally sets off subordinate clauses with a comma. If you front the concessive clause, main-clause V2 kicks in, so the finite verb comes before the subject:

Þó að veðrið væri kalt, pantaði hún salat. (not: … hún pantaði …)

What form is pantaði?

It’s the 3rd person singular past of the weak verb að panta “to order.” Mini-paradigm:

Present: hún pantar
Past: hún pantaði
Past participle/supine: pantað (e.g., hún hefur pantað)

Do I need the reflexive sér with panta when ordering for myself?

It’s common and idiomatic to say panta sér e-ð when you order something for yourself: Hún pantaði sér salat. Without sér is also fine and neutral in many contexts; adding sér can make the “for herself” nuance explicit.

Is salat in the accusative, and does it change form?

Yes, panta governs the accusative. But neuter singular nouns often have identical nominative and accusative forms, so salat stays salat. Useful forms:

Indefinite sg.: salat
Definite sg.: salatið
Indefinite pl.: salöt
Definite pl.: salötin

Why is there no article before salat?

Icelandic has no separate indefinite article. Bare salat is indefinite (“a salad/some salad”). If a specific salad is meant, use the suffixed definite article: salatið.

Why is veðrið definite here?

Weather in Icelandic is typically referred to with the definite form when talking about “the weather” at a given time/place. The noun is neuter veður “weather,” and veðrið is “the weather” (root + definite ending -ið).

Why is the adjective kalt and not kaldur or köld?

Predicate adjectives agree with the subject in gender and number. veðrið is neuter singular, so the adjective is neuter singular: kalt. Base forms:

Masc.: kaldur
Fem.: köld
Neut.: kalt

Why isn’t the verb second in the clause að veðrið væri kalt?

Main clauses are V2 in Icelandic, but most subordinate clauses (introduced by a complementizer like að, þó að, þótt) are not. Standard order in such clauses is Subject–Verb–…: [að] veðrið væri kalt.

How do I negate the concessive clause?

Place ekki after the finite verb inside the clause:

þó að veðrið væri ekki kalt
Present-time version: þó að veðrið sé ekki kalt

Any quick pronunciation tips for tricky letters here?

þ as in þó: voiceless “th” (like English thin).
ð as in að, veðrið: voiced “th” (like English this).
ó in þó: close to English “owe.”
ú in Hún: like “oo” in “food.” A rough guide: Hún [hoon] pantaði [PAN-ta-thi] salat [SA-lat], þó [thoh] að [ath] veðrið [VETH-rith] væri [VAI-ri] kalt [kalt]. (Icelandic has its own sound patterns; this is only approximate.)

Does þó að here mean “although” or “even if”?

It can express both, depending on context and tense. With a factual past like this, it reads as “although.” With a hypothetical setting, it can mean “even if”: Þótt veðrið væri kalt, myndi hún panta salat (“even if the weather were cold, she would…”), using the subjunctive to signal hypotheticals.