Word
Það eru aðeins tveir dagar síðan húsvörðurinn hreinsaði stigaganginn.
Meaning
It has only been two days since the caretaker cleaned the stairwell.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Það eru aðeins tveir dagar síðan húsvörðurinn hreinsaði stigaganginn.
vera
to be
dagurinn
the day
það
it
hreinsa
to clean
Questions & Answers about Það eru aðeins tveir dagar síðan húsvörðurinn hreinsaði stigaganginn.
Why does the sentence start with Það eru instead of Það er?
Because the real subject is tveir dagar (two days), which is plural, so the verb agrees with it: eru.
In Icelandic, það here is a dummy subject, similar to there or it in English. A very literal structure is:
- Það eru tveir dagar... = There are two days...
But in natural English, this becomes something like It has been two days...
So the plural eru is used because dagar is plural.
What exactly is það doing here?
Það is not referring to a specific thing. It is just filling the subject position, much like English it in:
- It is raining
- It has been two days
This kind of það is very common in Icelandic with weather, existence, time expressions, and similar patterns.
Why is it tveir dagar and not some other form of two?