Pípulagningamaðurinn segir að lekinn sé ekki alvarlegur ef við hringjum strax.

Icelandic very often makes long compound nouns.

Pípulagningamaðurinn means the plumber, and it can be broken down roughly like this:

• pípu- = pipe
• lagninga- = laying/installation
• maður = man/person
• -inn = the definite article the

So the whole word is basically the pipe-installation person → the plumber.

Long compounds like this are completely normal in Icelandic.

That -inn is the suffixed definite article, meaning the.

Instead of usually putting a separate word before the noun, Icelandic often attaches the to the end:

• pípulagningamaður = plumber
• pípulagningamaðurinn = the plumber

and

• leki = leak
• lekinn = the leak

So both nouns are definite here: the plumber and the leak.

Here að means that and introduces a subordinate clause:

• segir að ... = says that ...

So:

• Pípulagningamaðurinn segir = The plumber says
• að lekinn sé ekki alvarlegur = that the leak is not serious

English often drops that, but Icelandic commonly keeps að in this kind of sentence.

Sé is the present subjunctive form of vera (to be).

• er = is
• sé = be / is, in the subjunctive

In a sentence like this, Icelandic often uses the subjunctive in reported speech, especially after verbs like segja (to say), when the speaker is reporting someone else’s statement rather than fully presenting it as an independent fact.

So segir að lekinn sé ... is a very natural way to say:

• says that the leak is ...

Using sé creates a slight sense of reported or indirect statement.

Sometimes learners will see both indicative and subjunctive in subordinate clauses, but here sé is the more standard and natural choice for indirect/reported speech.

So:

• segir að lekinn sé ekki alvarlegur = the normal reported-speech style

If you use er, it can sound more direct or less grammatically careful in this context. For a learner, it is best to understand that after segir að, the subjunctive is very common and important.

Because it agrees with lekinn in gender, number, and case.

Leki is a masculine singular noun, and here it is nominative singular. The adjective has to match that:

• lekinn = the leak
• alvarlegur = serious

So alvarlegur is the masculine nominative singular form of the adjective.

If the noun were different, the adjective form would change too.

Because ekki negates the adjective phrase:

• ekki alvarlegur = not serious

This is the normal Icelandic placement. You will often see ekki before the word or phrase being negated.

So:

• lekinn sé ekki alvarlegur = the leak is not serious

Hringjum is the present tense, first person plural form of hringja:

• ég hringi = I call
• við hringjum = we call

So ef við hringjum strax literally means:

• if we call right away

In Icelandic, as in English, the present tense is often used for future meaning in if-clauses:

• if we call right away
  not necessarily if we are calling right now, but if we do call right away

Historically, yes, but in modern Icelandic it very commonly means to call, especially on the phone.

So here:

• við hringjum strax = we call right away / we phone immediately

That is a very natural use.

Because við can indeed mean two different things depending on context:

• við = we
• við = with

Here it must mean we, because it is followed by the verb hringjum, which is a first person plural verb form:

• við hringjum = we call

If it meant with, the sentence structure would be completely different.

The sentence has three parts:

1. Main clause: Pípulagningamaðurinn segir
   = The plumber says

2. Content clause: að lekinn sé ekki alvarlegur
   = that the leak is not serious

3. Conditional clause: ef við hringjum strax
   = if we call right away

So the structure is:

• [main clause] + [that-clause] + [if-clause]

That is also possible in English, but Icelandic uses its own clause patterns, especially with the subjunctive in the að-clause.

It most naturally gives the condition under which the leak is not serious:

• The plumber says that the leak is not serious if we call right away.

In other words, calling immediately affects the seriousness or the situation surrounding the leak.

A learner should understand it as the if-clause belonging to the reported statement, not to segir itself.

Yes.

Icelandic often uses the present tense where English might also use the present or might think of a future situation.

Here:

• segir = says
• sé = is / be
• hringjum = call

But the meaning can still involve what happens next:

• if we call right away, the leak is not serious

So there is no separate future form needed here. The present tense handles it naturally.