Questions & Answers about Það er erfitt að velja íþrótt.
In this sentence, Það is a dummy subject, just like “it” in English in sentences like “It is hard to choose a sport.”
It does not refer to any particular thing (not to the sport, not to the situation). Icelandic, like English, usually needs a subject, so Það er… is used as a neutral way to say “It is…” when the real “subject” is the whole action að velja íþrótt (“to choose a sport”).
Erfitt is the neuter singular form of the adjective erfiður (“difficult, hard”).
Because Það here is a dummy subject and is grammatically neuter singular, the adjective must agree with it in gender and number. So:
- Það er erfitt… = It is hard… (impersonal, with dummy Það)
- Verkið er erfitt. = The task is hard. (verk is neuter → erfitt)
- Leikurinn er erfiður. = The game is hard. (leikur is masculine → erfiður)
- Æfingin er erfið. = The exercise is hard. (æfing is feminine → erfið)
In your sentence, to sound natural and grammatical, it has to be erfitt with Það.
Yes, here að is the infinitive marker, similar to English “to” in “to choose.”
- velja = “choose” (bare infinitive)
- að velja = “to choose”
This að is different from að used as a preposition (“to, towards, at”) or as a conjunction (“that”). In this sentence, you can recognize it as the infinitive marker because it comes directly before a bare verb form (velja).
Velja is an irregular strong verb. You don’t need all forms at once, but here are the most common present and past forms:
- Infinitive: að velja – to choose
- 1st person singular present: ég vel – I choose
- 2nd person singular present: þú velur – you choose
- 3rd person singular present: hann/hún/það velur – he/she/it chooses
- 1st person plural present: við veljum – we choose
- Past singular: ég valdi – I chose
- Past plural: við völdum – we chose*
- Past participle (m./f./n.): valinn / völin / valið – chosen
In your sentence you only see the infinitive: að velja = to choose.
Íþrótt is a feminine noun, and here it is:
- singular
- indefinite (no article like “the”)
- in the accusative case
The verb velja (“choose”) takes a direct object in the accusative. For feminine nouns like íþrótt, the nominative and accusative singular forms happen to be the same: íþrótt.
So:
- að velja íþrótt = to choose a sport (object in accusative)
- If you wanted plural: að velja íþróttir = to choose sports / to choose some sports (accusative plural).
There is no article like English “a” or “the”; that information is usually inferred from context.
Yes, Að velja íþrótt er erfitt is fully correct Icelandic and means the same thing: “To choose a sport is hard.”
- Það er erfitt að velja íþrótt. – more natural, impersonal, like English “It is hard to choose a sport.”
- Að velja íþrótt er erfitt. – grammatically fine, slightly more formal or “written,” like English “To choose a sport is hard.”
Both are correct; in everyday speech, the Það er erfitt… pattern is more common.
Not in standard Icelandic.
You normally need the dummy subject Það in this construction. Just saying Er erfitt að velja íþrótt sounds incomplete or ungrammatical, except possibly as a very clipped, colloquial follow‑up in conversation.
For a full sentence, you should say:
- Það er erfitt að velja íþrótt.
You can keep the same structure and just add fyrir mig (“for me”):
- Það er erfitt fyrir mig að velja íþrótt.
= It is hard for me to choose a sport.
Somewhat more advanced / more “Icelandic-sounding” alternatives exist (using dative experiencers), but fyrir mig is clear and natural for a learner.
Very roughly (using English-like hints):
Það – [θaːð]
- Þ/þ at the start: like th in thing.
- ð at the end: like th in this (voiced).
- á: a long “ow” as in now, but a bit tenser.
er – [ɛr] (short e like in bed, then r rolled or tapped)
erfitt – [ˈɛrˌfɪht] (r rolled; tt pronounced with a little h‑like puff)
að – [að] (same voiced ð as in this, but word often very short or reduced in fast speech)
velja – [ˈvɛlja] (lj is like ly in million)
íþrótt – [ˈiːθrout]
- í: long ee like see.
- þ again like th in thing.
- ó: long o like in go, but a bit tenser.
You don’t have to be perfect, but it helps to focus on þ [θ] and ð [ð], since English uses them but spells them with th.
Yes. A very common pattern is:
Það er + [adjective in neuter singular] + að + [infinitive]
Examples:
Það er auðvelt að læra þetta.
It is easy to learn this.Það er skemmtilegt að lesa bækur.
It is fun to read books.Það er erfitt að velja íþrótt.
It is hard to choose a sport.
So you can reuse this pattern with many adjectives and infinitives.