Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Frelsi er ekki alltaf auðvelt, en það er mikilvægt. - Freedom is not always easy, but it is important.

Frelsi is a neuter noun.
When talking about a concept in general, Icelandic often does not use a definite article, where English would say “freedom” or “the freedom”.
So Frelsi er ekki alltaf auðvelt literally looks like “Freedom is not always easy”, with no article.

If you specifically wanted “the freedom”, you would usually add the definite ending:

Frelsið er ekki alltaf auðvelt
→ The freedom is not always easy. (referring to some specific freedom already known in context)

Why do auðvelt and mikilvægt end in -t instead of looking like typical adjectives with -ur, like auðveldur?

Icelandic adjectives agree with the gender, number, and case of the noun they describe.

The base adjective for “easy” is:
- auðveldur (masc.), auðveld (fem.), auðvelt (neut.)
The base adjective for “important” is:
- mikilvægur (masc.), mikilvæg (fem.), mikilvægt (neut.)

Here:

The subject frelsi is neuter singular nominative.
So the adjectives after er must also be neuter singular nominative:
- auðvelt (not auðveldur, auðveld)
- mikilvægt (not mikilvægur, mikilvæg)

That’s why both adjectives end in -t in this sentence.

Why is the word order “er ekki alltaf auðvelt” and not something like “er alltaf ekki auðvelt”?

The pattern verb + ekki + adverb/adjective is very typical in Icelandic.

er = is (the verb, which must be in second position in most main clauses)
ekki = not usually comes right after the finite verb
alltaf = always comes after ekki in this kind of phrase

So:

Frelsi er ekki alltaf auðvelt
= Freedom is not always easy

If you said “Frelsi er alltaf ekki auðvelt”, it would sound odd or heavily marked, a bit like saying in English:
“Freedom is always not easy.” (emphasizing that it is always not easy, which is a different nuance and still quite unnatural.)

What does en mean here, and how is it used?

En is a coordinating conjunction meaning “but”.

It introduces a contrast between two clauses:
- Frelsi er ekki alltaf auðvelt
  Freedom is not always easy,
- en það er mikilvægt.
  but it is important.

This is directly parallel to English “…, but …”.

You could sometimes use other words like samt (still, yet) in different structures, but in this sentence en is the natural choice for “but”.

What does það refer to in “en það er mikilvægt”, and could it be left out?

In en það er mikilvægt, the pronoun það means “it” and refers back to frelsi (freedom).

Icelandic normally needs a subject in each clause.
So in the second clause, you either:
- Repeat the noun:
  En frelsi er mikilvægt.
- Or use a pronoun:
  En það er mikilvægt.

Leaving it out completely — “en er mikilvægt” — is ungrammatical, because the verb er needs a subject.

So það = it (freedom) here, not a meaningless “dummy” subject; it points back to frelsi.

Why is the second adjective mikilvægt neuter, even though það can sometimes be used generically?

Here það specifically refers to frelsi, which is neuter.

Because það is standing in for a neuter noun (frelsi), the adjective describing it must also be neuter:

það er mikilvægt
it is important → “it” = freedom (neuter) → mikilvægt (neuter)

If the subject were masculine or feminine, the adjective would change accordingly:

Dagurinn er auðveldur og mikilvægur.
The day is easy and important. (both masc.)
Stundin er auðveld og mikilvæg.
The moment is easy and important. (both fem.)

Could I say “Frelsi er ekki alltaf auðvelt, en frelsi er mikilvægt” instead of using það?

Yes, that is grammatically correct, but it sounds repetitive and less natural in normal speech:

Frelsi er ekki alltaf auðvelt, en frelsi er mikilvægt.

Native speakers usually prefer to avoid repeating the same noun immediately, so they use a pronoun:

Frelsi er ekki alltaf auðvelt, en það er mikilvægt.

Using það makes the sentence smoother and more natural, just like English often prefers “it” instead of repeating “freedom”.

Why isn’t there an “er” in the second clause after en repeated, like “en það er mikilvægt” vs. something shorter?

There is an er in the second clause: en það er mikilvægt.

You cannot shorten it to something like “en það mikilvægt” in Icelandic. The copula verb er (is) is required:

✅ en það er mikilvægt
❌ en það mikilvægt

So the full structure of the second clause is:

Subject: það
Verb: er
Complement: mikilvægt

Can I switch the order of the two clauses and say “Það er mikilvægt, en frelsi er ekki alltaf auðvelt”?

Yes, that is also grammatical and meaningful:

Það er mikilvægt, en frelsi er ekki alltaf auðvelt.
It is important, but freedom is not always easy.

However, the emphasis changes slightly:

Original: Frelsi er ekki alltaf auðvelt, en það er mikilvægt.
→ First highlights the difficulty, then contrasts with its importance.
Switched: Það er mikilvægt, en frelsi er ekki alltaf auðvelt.
→ Starts by stating importance, then adds that it is not always easy.

Both are fine; choice depends on what you want to emphasize first.

How do you pronounce the words in this sentence?

Approximate pronunciations, using English-friendly hints:

Frelsi → roughly FREL-si
- fre like fre in fresh
- lsi like l-see
er → like “air” but shorter
ekki → EH-kki
- kk is pronounced like a hard “hk” sound
alltaf → AHL-taf
- ll is like tl with a bit of air; often sounds like “alt-af”
auðvelt → OIÐ-velt
- au like oi in oil
- ð is a soft th as in this
- final lt is clear
en → like “en” in enough, short
það → THA-th
- þ is unvoiced th as in thing
- ð at the end is like soft th in this
mikilvægt → MI-kil-vaikt
- mikil like MI-kil (short i)
- væ like vai in viking
- gt at the end often sounds close to “ikt” / “ait” to foreign ears

Spoken together at natural speed, many sounds blend slightly, but these approximations are close enough for a learner to be understood.