Forvarnir og vinnuvernd munu koma í veg fyrir fleiri vinnuslys.

Because Icelandic often uses the plural forvarnir where English uses a singular abstract noun like prevention.

The singular form is forvörn, meaning a preventive measure. The plural forvarnir literally means preventive measures, but in real usage it often corresponds to English prevention in a broad sense.

So in this sentence, forvarnir does not necessarily mean several separate items you need to count one by one. It can simply refer to preventive action in general.

Vinnuvernd is a compound noun.

It is made from:

• vinnu- = work / labour in compound form
• vernd = protection

So vinnuvernd means something like workplace protection, occupational safety, or labour protection, depending on context.

Compounds are extremely common in Icelandic, so learning to spot the parts can help a lot.

Because the subject is plural overall: Forvarnir og vinnuvernd = Prevention and occupational safety.

Even though vinnuvernd is singular by itself, the two nouns are joined by og (and), so together they form a plural subject. That is why the verb must also be plural:

• singular: mun
• plural: munu

So munu agrees with forvarnir og vinnuvernd.

This is a normal future construction in Icelandic.

• munu is the finite verb here and marks future meaning, similar to English will
• koma is the infinitive

So:

• munu koma = will come
• but in this full expression, munu koma í veg fyrir = will prevent

In other words, munu works a bit like an auxiliary verb here.

Yes. You should learn koma í veg fyrir as a fixed idiomatic expression meaning to prevent, to stop, or to avert.

Even though the individual words have their own meanings, the whole phrase functions as one unit:

• koma = come
• í veg = into the way/path
• fyrir = before/in front of/for, depending on context

But you should not try to translate it word for word in normal use. As a learner, it is much better to memorize:

koma í veg fyrir + accusative = prevent

It takes the accusative.

So the thing being prevented goes in the accusative case:

• koma í veg fyrir slys = prevent an accident / prevent accidents
• koma í veg fyrir fleiri vinnuslys = prevent more workplace accidents

In this sentence, fleiri vinnuslys is the object of the phrase koma í veg fyrir.

Because fleiri is used with countable nouns, while meiri is used more for uncountable quantity or degree.

Here, vinnuslys means workplace accidents, and accidents are things you can count. So Icelandic uses:

• fleiri vinnuslys = more workplace accidents

Compare:

• fleiri slys = more accidents
• meiri vinna = more work
• meiri áhætta = greater risk / more risk

That distinction is very important in Icelandic.

Because many Icelandic neuter nouns have the same form in the nominative and accusative singular and plural.

So vinnuslys can be:

• singular: a workplace accident
• plural: workplace accidents

In this sentence, you know it is plural because of fleiri (more). Without that, the form by itself could look ambiguous.

This is very common with neuter nouns in Icelandic.

Because Icelandic does not use an indefinite article like English a/an, and this sentence is talking about accidents in a general, indefinite sense.

So fleiri vinnuslys simply means more workplace accidents, not the more workplace accidents.

If the noun were definite, Icelandic would usually show that with a suffixed article on the noun, but that is not what is happening here.

Yes, often it could.

Icelandic, like English, can sometimes use the present tense for general truths, plans, or likely future results. So a sentence without munu could also work in the right context.

However, munu makes the future meaning more explicit:

• Forvarnir og vinnuvernd koma í veg fyrir fleiri vinnuslys.
• Forvarnir og vinnuvernd munu koma í veg fyrir fleiri vinnuslys.

The version with munu sounds more clearly like will prevent.

A simple breakdown is:

• Forvarnir og vinnuvernd = the subject
• munu = finite verb
• koma í veg fyrir = infinitive phrase meaning prevent
• fleiri vinnuslys = object

So the structure is roughly:

[Subject] + [future verb] + [idiomatic infinitive phrase] + [object]

That makes it easier to see how the sentence is built, even if the Icelandic wording is not the same as English.