Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Í sveitinni er lítið um mengun og umhverfið er grænna og hljóðlátara. - In the countryside there is little pollution and the environment is greener and quieter.

í = in
sveit = countryside, rural district (a feminine noun)
sveitinni = sveit in the dative singular definite
- stem: sveit
- dative ending: -i
- definite article: -n (which fuses to -inni here)

In Icelandic, í takes:

accusative for movement into something:
- Ég fer í sveitina – I am going to the countryside.
dative for location in/inside something:
- Ég er í sveitinni – I am in the countryside.

Here it’s about being located in the countryside, so í + dative: í sveitinni.

Why does the sentence start with Í sveitinni instead of the subject? Isn’t Icelandic Subject–Verb–Object?

The sentence is:

Í sveitinni er lítið um mengun og umhverfið er grænna og hljóðlátara.

Icelandic is a V2 language in main clauses: the finite verb is in second position, but the first position can be almost anything (not just the subject).

Here:

Í sveitinni (prepositional phrase) is in first position.
er (is) is second.
lítið um mengun (little pollution) follows.

So the structure is:

1st slot: Í sveitinni
2nd slot (verb): er
Rest: lítið um mengun

You could also say:

Það er lítið um mengun í sveitinni.
(Then Það fills the first slot and er is still second.)

Both word orders are natural; starting with Í sveitinni just emphasizes the location.

What does the phrase er lítið um mengun literally mean, and why is um there?

er lítið um mengun is built around the pattern vera mikið / lítið um e-ð:

vera mikið um e-ð – there is a lot of something happening / present
vera lítið um e-ð – there is little of something happening / present

So:

er – is
lítið – little / not much
um – about / regarding / with respect to (here it’s part of a fixed pattern)
mengun – pollution (accusative after um)

A fairly literal rendering would be:

Það er lítið um mengun
≈ There is little (to be found) in the way of pollution.

The um is required by the idiom mikið / lítið um e-ð. You can’t just drop it; er lítið mengun would be wrong.

Why is lítið in the neuter form? Isn’t lítil the form for “little”?

The base adjective is lítill (little, small):

masculine: lítill
feminine: lítil
neuter: lítið

In the construction vera mikið / lítið um e-ð, the word lítið (or mikið) is used in the neuter singular and functions more like an adverbial meaning there is little / much.

Some examples:

Það er lítið um fólk hér. – There are few people here.
Það er mikið um umferð. – There is a lot of traffic.
Í sveitinni er lítið um mengun. – In the countryside there is little pollution.

So lítið is neuter because that is the fixed, adverb-like form used in this pattern.

Could you also say Í sveitinni er lítil mengun? What is the difference from lítið um mengun?

You can say:

Í sveitinni er lítil mengun. – There is little pollution in the countryside.

Grammatically this is fine:

lítil = feminine nominative singular of lítill, agreeing with mengun (feminine noun).

However, there is a nuance:

er lítið um mengun
- uses the idiom vera lítið um e-ð
- feels more like there isn’t much pollution around / to be found
- slightly more idiomatic and common.
er lítil mengun
- more literal: there is little pollution
- a bit more formal or factual in tone.

Both are understandable; vera lítið um mengun is probably the more natural, everyday phrasing in this context.

What is umhverfið grammatically? Why the ending -ið?

umhverfið means the environment or the surroundings.

Base noun: umhverfi – environment, surroundings (neuter).
Definite form: umhverfið – umhverfi
- definite article -ð.

So:

umhverfi (indefinite, nominative/accusative singular) – environment
umhverfið – the environment

In the sentence, umhverfið is the subject of the second clause:

… og umhverfið er grænna og hljóðlátara.
– and the environment is greener and quieter.

Why are the adjectives grænna and hljóðlátara in those forms? Why not grænn and hljóðlátur?

The base adjectives are:

grænn – green
hljóðlátur – quiet

Their positive (basic) forms in predicate with a neuter noun like umhverfið would be:

Umhverfið er grænt og hljóðlátt. – The environment is green and quiet.

In the sentence we have comparative forms:

grænna – greener
hljóðlátara – quieter

Comparatives in Icelandic agree with the noun in gender, number and case, just like normal adjectives. For umhverfið (neuter singular nominative), the comparative forms are:

grænn → comparative stem grænni → neuter: grænna
hljóðlátur → comparative stem hljóðlátari → neuter: hljóðlátara

So:

umhverfið er grænna og hljóðlátara
– the environment is greener and quieter.

The -a endings mark neuter singular nominative in the comparative degree.

What are the full comparison forms of grænn and hljóðlátur?

grænn (green):

Positive:
- grænn (m), græn (f), grænt (n)
Comparative:
- grænni (m/f), grænna (n)
Superlative (strong):
- grænastur (m), grænust (f), grænast (n)

Example:

Umhverfið er grænt. – The environment is green.
Umhverfið er grænna. – The environment is greener.
Umhverfið er grænast. – The environment is greenest.

hljóðlátur (quiet):

Positive:
- hljóðlátur (m), hljóðlát (f), hljóðlátt (n)
Comparative:
- hljóðlátari (m/f), hljóðlátara (n)
Superlative (strong):
- hljóðlátastur (m), hljóðlátust (f), hljóðlátast (n)

Example:

Það er hljóðlátt hér. – It is quiet here.
Það er hljóðlátara hér. – It is quieter here.
Það er hljóðlátast hér. – It is quietest here.

Can you also say Umhverfið er grænt og hljóðlátt instead of grænna og hljóðlátara?

Yes:

Umhverfið er grænt og hljóðlátt. – The environment is green and quiet.

This uses the positive degree (no comparison). The original sentence uses the comparative degree to imply a comparison, probably with the city or some other place mentioned in the wider context:

Umhverfið er grænna og hljóðlátara.
– The environment is greener and quieter (than somewhere else).

So:

Use grænt / hljóðlátt when you just describe how it is.
Use grænna / hljóðlátara when you imply more green / more quiet (than X).

Where is the word for “than”? Shouldn’t there be en in a comparative?

Icelandic normally uses en for explicit comparisons:

Umhverfið er grænna en í borginni.
– The environment is greener than in the city.

In the given sentence, the comparison partner (e.g. than in the city) is understood from context and simply not stated:

… og umhverfið er grænna og hljóðlátara.

So:

When you state what you compare with, use en:
grænna en X, hljóðlátara en X.
When the comparison is implicit, you can leave out the en + phrase and just use the comparative form.

What cases are used on sveitinni, mengun, and umhverfið in this sentence, and why?

Sentence: Í sveitinni er lítið um mengun og umhverfið er grænna og hljóðlátara.

sveitinni – dative singular feminine
- required by the preposition í when it means in (location).
mengun – accusative singular feminine
- required by um, which takes the accusative: um mengun.
umhverfið – nominative singular neuter (definite)
- it is the subject of the second clause: umhverfið er …

So we have:

Í sveitinni – dative, governed by í (location)
lítið um mengun – accusative, governed by um
umhverfið er … – nominative subject with predicate adjectives agreeing in gender/number/case.