Hjálmurinn gerir göngutúrinn í snjónum öruggari.

The helmet makes the walk in the snow safer.

Breakdown of Hjálmurinn gerir göngutúrinn í snjónum öruggari.

• í: in
• göngutúrinn: the walk
• snjórinn: the snow
• gera: to make
• hjálmurinn: the helmet
• öruggari: safer

Questions & Answers about Hjálmurinn gerir göngutúrinn í snjónum öruggari.

Why do hjálmurinn and göngutúrinn end in -inn?

The ending -inn is the definite article (like English the) attached to the end of masculine nouns in Icelandic.

• hjálmur = helmet → hjálmurinn = the helmet
• göngutúr = walk (a walk, a stroll) → göngutúrinn = the walk / the stroll

In Icelandic, the definite article is usually a suffix on the noun, not a separate word as in English.

What grammatical role do hjálmurinn and göngutúrinn have in the sentence?

• hjálmurinn is the subject of the sentence (the thing doing the action). It is in the nominative singular definite: the helmet.
• göngutúrinn is the direct object, the thing being affected by the action of the verb gera (to make). It is in the accusative singular definite: the walk.

For this particular noun, the nominative and accusative forms with -inn are spelled the same (göngutúrinn), so you know it is the object from the verb pattern: gera + [object] + [adjective].

What does gera mean here, and how does this pattern work?

The verb gera usually means to do or to make. In this sentence it has the causative meaning to make [something] [adjective]:

• gera eitthvað öruggara = to make something safer

So the pattern is:

• [subject] gerir [object] [adjective/comparative]
• Hjálmurinn gerir göngutúrinn öruggari.
  → The helmet makes the walk safer.

The prepositional phrase í snjónum (in the snow) just adds context to göngutúrinn (the walk).

Why is it öruggari and not öruggur? What form is öruggari?

öruggur is the base adjective: safe.
öruggari is the comparative form: safer / more safe.

Icelandic forms comparatives by adding -ari to the adjective stem:

• öruggur → öruggari (safe → safer)
• stór → stærri (big → bigger)

We use the comparative here because the sentence describes a change in degree of safety: the helmet makes the walk more safe than without the helmet.

Could we say meira öruggur instead of öruggari?

No, that would not be natural Icelandic.

English often uses more + adjective (e.g. more safe), but Icelandic normally uses a single comparative form:

• öruggari, not meira öruggur
• áhugaverðari, not meira áhugaverður (more interesting)

meira (more) is used mostly with verbs and nouns (e.g. gera meira – do more, meira vatn – more water), not to build the standard comparative of adjectives.

Why is it í snjónum and not something like í snjó or í snjórinn? What case is snjónum?

snjónum is dative singular definite of snjór (snow).

• Base form: snjór = snow
• Dative singular indefinite: snjó = (some) snow
• Dative singular definite: snjónum = the snow

The preposition í (in, into) can take either dative or accusative:

• í
  • dative → location, in/inside
    
    • í snjónum = in the snow (somewhere in snow)
• í
  • accusative → movement into / to something

Here we are describing where the walk takes place (location), so í needs the dative, and the speaker chooses the definite form: í snjónum = in the snow.

What exactly does í snjónum modify: the helmet or the walk?

Grammatically and naturally, í snjónum modifies göngutúrinn, not hjálmurinn.

The structure is:

• Hjálmurinn (subject)
• gerir (verb)
• göngutúrinn í snjónum (object + its modifier)
• öruggari (resulting state / complement)

So it means: The helmet makes *the walk in the snow safer.
It does *not mean that the helmet is in the snow; it is the walk that is taking place in the snow.

Why is it í snjónum öruggari and not öruggari í snjónum? Can we move í snjónum?

You can move í snjónum, and both orders are possible:

• Hjálmurinn gerir göngutúrinn í snjónum öruggari.
• Hjálmurinn gerir göngutúrinn öruggari í snjónum.

The first version (from your sentence) slightly emphasizes the walk in the snow as a unit. The second puts a bit more emphasis on being safer in snow (as opposed to elsewhere).

Both are grammatically correct; Icelandic word order allows this kind of movement of adverbial phrases.

How is göngutúr formed, and what nuance does it have compared with just ganga?

göngutúr is a compound noun:

• ganga = to walk (verb), also a noun a walk
• túr = trip, outing

Together göngutúr literally means walk‑trip and is the ordinary word for a walk / a stroll as an activity or outing.

So göngutúrinn is the walk (the outing, the stroll), not just the physical act of moving your legs.

How do you pronounce the tricky parts: hj in hjálmurinn and the vowel ö in öruggari?

• hj in hjálmurinn is pronounced like an unvoiced “hy” sound, a bit like the “h” in huge when some English speakers say hyuge. It is not like an English “sh” or “ch”.
• á in hjálmurinn is a long “ow” sound like in English cow.
• ö in öruggari is a rounded vowel, similar to the vowel in British English bird or German ö in schön.

Approximate pronunciations:

• hjálmurinn ≈ HYOWL-mur-in
• öruggari ≈ UR-ug-ga-ri (with the first syllable like English her but with rounded lips)