Breakdown of Ég les samninginn vandlega áður en ég undirrita hann.
Questions & Answers about Ég les samninginn vandlega áður en ég undirrita hann.
Ég means I and it’s in the nominative case, which is the normal case for the subject of the sentence. Icelandic marks subjects and objects with case more than English does, so you’ll often hear learners talk about “which case should this noun/pronoun be in?”
Les is present tense (1st person singular) of að lesa (to read). Icelandic often uses the present tense for things that are generally true, habitual, or about the near future, depending on context—so a sentence like this can naturally describe what you do before signing (either as a habit or in a specific situation).
If you want to be more explicitly future-like, you can also use mun + infinitive (e.g., Ég mun lesa...), but it’s not required here.
That -inn is the definite article (“the”) attached as a suffix.
- samningur = a contract (dictionary form, nominative singular)
- samninginn = the contract (accusative singular, masculine, definite)
So Icelandic typically doesn’t use a separate word for “the” the way English does; it attaches it to the noun.
Because samninginn is the direct object of les (I read the contract), and the verb að lesa takes its object in the accusative case.
samningur is nominative (subject form). When it becomes an object, it changes form.
vandlega means carefully/thoroughly and it’s an adverb describing les (how you read). In Icelandic, adverbs like this often appear:
- after the object: Ég les samninginn vandlega.
- or sometimes before the object for emphasis (less neutral in many contexts)
The given placement is very natural.
áður en means before and acts as a subordinating conjunction introducing a subordinate clause:
- Main clause: Ég les samninginn vandlega
- Subordinate clause: áður en ég undirrita hann
A practical takeaway: after áður en, you’re in a subordinate clause with subordinate clause word order.
In Icelandic, main clauses typically follow the V2 rule (the finite verb is in the second position). But subordinate clauses usually do not use V2; they tend to keep a more “straight” order with subject before verb, which is what you see:
- ... áður en ég undirrita hann (subject ég
- verb undirrita)
For many Icelandic verbs, the 1st person singular present tense can look identical to the infinitive form.
Here:
- Infinitive: að undirrita
- Present, 1st person singular: ég undirrita
So it’s not an infinitive here—it’s the correct present-tense form meaning (I) sign.
Yes, áður en ég undirriti hann is also common. That uses the subjunctive (undirriti), which is often used after áður en especially when the signing is not yet a fact (a not-yet-realized event).
Very roughly:
- áður en ég undirrita hann (indicative): more neutral / sometimes sounds like a straightforward statement of what happens
- áður en ég undirriti hann (subjunctive): highlights the “before it happens” / not-yet-done feeling
Both appear in real Icelandic; which is preferred can depend on style, formality, and speaker preference.
Icelandic normally states the subject in each finite clause, so repeating ég is standard:
Ég les ... áður en ég undirrita ...
In some contexts you might omit things if they’re understood (especially in informal speech), but as a default, repeating the subject is the clean, correct way.
hann means him/it and refers back to samninginn (the contract). It’s masculine singular accusative, matching samningur (a masculine noun).
So even though English uses it, Icelandic chooses the pronoun based on the noun’s grammatical gender (masculine/feminine/neuter), not on whether it’s a person.
undirrita is correct but can feel somewhat formal/official. A very common everyday alternative is að skrifa undir (to sign, literally “write under”):
- Ég les samninginn vandlega áður en ég skrifa undir hann.
Both are good; undirrita fits especially well in legal/contract contexts.