Ef þú brýtur reglurnar, færðu sekt frá lögreglunni.

If you break the rules, you get a fine from the police.

Breakdown of Ef þú brýtur reglurnar, færðu sekt frá lögreglunni.

• þú: you
• ef: if
• frá: from
• fá: to get
• reglan: the rule
• lögreglan: the police
• brjóta: to break
• sektin: the fine

Questions & Answers about Ef þú brýtur reglurnar, færðu sekt frá lögreglunni.

What does each word in Ef þú brýtur reglurnar, færðu sekt frá lögreglunni literally mean?

Word-by-word:

• Ef – if
• þú – you (singular)
• brýtur – (you) break
• reglurnar – the rules
  
  • regla = rule
  • reglur = rules (plural)
  • reglurnar = the rules (definite plural, here in accusative case)
• færðu – you get / you receive (2nd person singular of fá)
• sekt – a fine (a monetary penalty)
• frá – from
• lögreglunni – the police (literally: the police, in dative case)
  
  • lögregla = police
  • lögreglan = the police (nominative)
  • lögreglunni = the police (dative, definite)

So the structure is very close to English:
If you break the rules, you get a fine from the police.

Why is ef used here and not þegar? Aren’t both sometimes translated as if or when?

Ef introduces a condition: something that may or may not happen.

• Ef þú brýtur reglurnar = If you break the rules (it is not certain you will)
• Þegar þú brýtur reglurnar would mean When(ever) you break the rules, suggesting it is something that happens (or will happen) as a fact or habit.

So ef is the natural choice for a rule or warning: it describes a hypothetical situation, not a guaranteed one.

Why is the verb brýtur and not something closer to brjótar or brjótir? How is this verb conjugated?

The infinitive is að brjóta (to break). It is irregular and changes its stem vowel (ó → ý) in the present tense.

Present tense:

• ég brýt – I break
• þú brýtur – you (sg.) break
• hann / hún / það brýtur – he / she / it breaks
• við brjótum – we break
• þið brjótið – you (pl.) break
• þeir / þær / þau brjóta – they break

So þú brýtur is the regular 2nd person singular ending -ur added to the stem brýt-.

There is no auxiliary verb like English do; Icelandic just uses the simple present verb form: þú brýtur = you break / you are breaking.

What exactly is going on with reglurnar? Why is there no separate word for the?

Icelandic typically marks definiteness with an ending (a suffix) instead of a separate article like the.

For regla (a rule), feminine:

• Singular:
  • regla – a rule (nom. sg. indefinite)
  • reglan – the rule (nom. sg. definite)
• Plural (nominative forms):
  • reglur – rules
  • reglurnar – the rules

In the sentence, reglurnar is:

• plural
• definite (the, not some)
• in the accusative case (object of the verb brjóta)

For many feminine nouns, nominative and accusative plural forms look the same, so reglurnar can be both nominative or accusative plural definite depending on context. Here it is accusative because it’s what you are breaking.

Why does færðu look like one word? Is it færð þú or something else?

Historically, færðu is færð þú (you get) with þú cliticized (attached) to the verb. In modern standard writing, færðu is treated as a single verbal form.

Compare:

• þú færð sekt – you get a fine
• færðu sekt? – do you get a fine? / will you get a fine?

In our sentence, færðu is just the 2nd person singular present of fá with the pronoun ending:

• Infinitive: að fá – to get, to receive
• ég fæ – I get
• þú færð → færðu – you get
• hann fær – he gets
• við fáum – we get
• etc.

So færðu here means you get / you will get.

Why is the present tense færðu used even though the English translation uses will get?

Icelandic uses the present tense much more freely for:

• general truths and rules
• future consequences that are seen as regular or certain

In rules, laws, and instructions, the Icelandic present often corresponds to an English future:

• Ef þú brýtur reglurnar, færðu sekt
  Literally: If you break the rules, you get a fine
  Natural English: If you break the rules, you will get a fine.

There is a future-like construction (ætla að, munu), but for this kind of general rule, the simple present is idiomatic.

Why is the word order Ef þú brýtur reglurnar, færðu sekt… and not something like Ef þú reglurnar brýtur?

The basic word order in Icelandic statements is, like English, Subject–Verb–Object:

• þú brýtur reglurnar
  subject – verb – object
  you – break – the rules

In the ef-clause, you simply put ef at the start and keep normal clause order:

• ef + þú brýtur reglurnar
  if + you break the rules

In the main clause after the comma, Icelandic likes the verb in second position (the V2 rule). The whole ef-clause counts as one unit in first position, so the finite verb færðu comes next:

• [Ef þú brýtur reglurnar], færðu sekt frá lögreglunni.
  1st position: clause Ef þú brýtur reglurnar
  2nd position: verb færðu
  rest: sekt frá lögreglunni

Putting reglurnar before brýtur would be marked or wrong in a neutral sentence like this.

What cases are used for sekt and lögreglunni, and why?

In this sentence:

• sekt is in the accusative singular
  
  • It is the direct object of færðu: you get a fine.
• lögreglunni is in the dative singular definite
  
  • It follows the preposition frá, which governs the dative case.
  • So frá lögreglunni = from the police (police in dative).

Pattern:

• Nominative: lögreglan – the police
• Accusative: lögregluna
• Dative: lögreglunni
• Genitive: lögreglunnar

The preposition frá always triggers dative, so you must use lögreglunni (not lögreglan or lögregluna).

Why is lögreglunni singular, when English has the police which looks plural?

In Icelandic, lögregla is a singular feminine noun meaning police (force), and it behaves grammatically like any other singular noun.

• lögregla – police (indefinite)
• lögreglan – the police (nominative singular definite)
• frá lögreglunni – from the police (dative singular definite)

English treats police as a plural-looking noun (with plural agreement: the police are), but in Icelandic it is conceptually and grammatically singular, more like the police force.

So frá lögreglunni is literally from the police (force).

Why is it frá lögreglunni and not af lögreglunni or something more like by the police?

Both frá and af can be translated as from, but they are used differently.

• frá = from (origin, source, sender)

  • pakki frá vini – a package from a friend
  • skilaboð frá kennaranum – a message from the teacher
  • sekt frá lögreglunni – a fine from the police

• af often means:

  • off (from a surface): detta af stólnum – fall off the chair
  • by (as an agent in some passive constructions)
  • caused by: þreyttur af vinnu – tired from work

A fine is something that comes from an authority as its source or sender, so frá is the natural preposition.

English sometimes says a fine by the police, but Icelandic expresses this as a fine from the police: sekt frá lögreglunni.

Why is there a comma in Ef þú brýtur reglurnar, færðu sekt…? Is it always needed?

In Icelandic, a comma is normally used between a dependent clause and the main clause, especially when the dependent clause comes first.

• Ef þú brýtur reglurnar, færðu sekt.
• Færðu sekt, ef þú brýtur reglurnar.

So you normally write a comma between ef-clauses and the main clause, just as you often do in English when the if-clause comes first.

It is considered standard and clearer to keep the comma here, especially in formal writing like rules, instructions, and legal language.

Does this sentence sound formal, legal, or could it be used in everyday speech?

The vocabulary is neutral and common, but the content (rules, fines, police) makes it sound like:

• a warning sign
• rules at a facility or event
• an explanation of regulations

You could definitely use this in everyday speech when explaining rules:

• Ef þú brýtur reglurnar, færðu sekt frá lögreglunni.
  If you break the rules, you’ll get a fine from the police.

For very informal speech, people might shorten or soften it, but this version is natural, correct, and not overly stiff.