Ég held ekki fast í reipið þegar það er blautt.

I do not hold the rope tightly when it is wet.

Breakdown of Ég held ekki fast í reipið þegar það er blautt.

• ég: I
• vera: to be
• það: it
• ekki: not

Questions & Answers about Ég held ekki fast í reipið þegar það er blautt.

Why is it held and not halda?

Halda is the infinitive, meaning to hold. After ég you need the present-tense form for I, which is held.

So:

að halda = to hold
ég held = I hold

This verb is irregular, so the vowel changes from a to e.

Why does ekki come after held?

Because Icelandic main clauses usually follow the verb-second rule.

In this sentence:

Ég = first element
held = finite verb, so it comes second
ekki = comes after that

So Ég held ekki ... is the normal order.

If another element came first, the verb would still stay in second position, for example:

Þegar það er blautt held ég ekki fast í reipið.

What does fast mean here?