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### Sharing Gleaned Information with "Mér skilst"

At a networking mixer, you will often want to share information you have heard or gathered from others. In English, you might say "I hear that...", "I gather that...", or "I understand that...". In Icelandic, this is expressed with the impersonal middle-voice phrase **mér skilst**.

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Because this is an impersonal construction, the person doing the understanding is in the dative case (**mér**). The verb **skilja** (to understand) is in the middle voice (**skilst**), giving it a passive, evidential feel—literally, "it is understood to me."

### The Subjunctive After "Mér skilst að"

When you add **að** (that) to introduce the information you heard, the verb in the following clause takes the **subjunctive mood**. This happens because you are reporting indirect speech or conveying information you did not experience firsthand.

For example, the indicative **er** (is) becomes the subjunctive **sé**. 

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You will frequently see this combined with the dummy subject **það** to mean "there is" or "it is." In these cases, **það er** becomes **það sé**.

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### Other Verbs in the Subjunctive

Regular verbs also take their subjunctive forms after **mér skilst að**. For many common verbs, the third-person subjunctive simply ends in **-i** (for example, **byrjar** becomes **byrji**, and **ætlar** becomes **ætli**).

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When discussing what will happen in the future, the auxiliary verb **mun** (will) changes to its subjunctive form **muni**.

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Impersonal evidentials (mér skilst að)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Presentative and the definite suffix (þetta er, -inn, -in, -ið)

Singular pronouns and to be (ég er, þú ert)

Singular adjective agreement

Yes/no questions (ert þú…?)

Basic negation (ekki)

Plural pronouns and to be (við erum, þeir eru)

Group 1 weak verbs (-ar)

Group 2 and 3 verbs (-ir, -ur)

Information questions (hvað, hver, hvar)

Expressing opinions (mér finnst, mér líkar)

Expressing desires (mig langar)

Numbers 1 to 10 (einn, tveir, þrír)

Direct objects on indefinite nouns

Direct objects on definite nouns

Singular object pronouns (mig, þig...)

Plural object pronouns (okkur, ykkur...)

Directional prepositions (um, í, á)

Verb-second word order

Expressing intentions (ætla að)

Needs and wants (þurfa, vilja)

Middle voice verbs (-st)

Possessive pronouns (minn, þinn)

Dative case with prepositions (í, á, frá)

Definite dative nouns (-num, -nni, -nu)

Dative personal pronouns (honum, henni, þeim)

Plural nouns (-ar, -ir, -ur)

Definite plural nouns (-nir, -nar, -in)

Accusative plural nouns

Number agreement 1 to 4 (einn, tveir…)

Singular commands

Past tense of the verb to be (var, vorum)

Present continuous (vera að)

Strong verbs in the present tense

Weather and dummy subjects (það)

Invariable possessive pronouns (hans, hennar, þeirra)

Accusative possessives (minn, þinn)

Accompaniment (með)

Dative plural (-um, -unum)

Compound sentences (og, en, eða)

"This" in the nominative (þessi, þessi, þetta)

"This" in the accusative (þennan, þessa, þetta)

Accusative adjectives (-an, -a, -t)

Numbers 1 to 4 in the accusative (einn, tvo, þrjá)

Third-person reflexive pronouns (sig, sér)

The preposition "to" with the genitive (til)

Subordinating conjunctions (að, af því að)

Simple past of weak verbs (-aði)

Question words (hvernig, hvaða)

Physical possession (vera með)

Abstract possession (hafa)

Telling time (hálf, korter)

Plural commands (-ið)

The simple past tense (-di, -ti, -ði)

Possessive noun endings (-s, -ar)

Days of the week (á mánudaginn, á mánudögum)

Kveðjur — greetings (halló, bless)

Um mig — where I am from

Kurteisi — please, sorry, congratulations

Ability and knowing how (kunna að)

Permission (mega)

Obligation (eiga að)

Plural strong verbs

Numbers 11 to 20 (ellefu, tólf...)

Counting by tens to 100 (þrjátíu, fjörutíu...)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (fyrsti, annar...)

All / everything / everyone (allur)

The indefinite pronoun someone (einhver)

The indefinite pronoun no one (enginn)

Compound numbers from 21 (tuttugu og)

This in the dative singular (þessum, þessari, þessu)

These in the dative plural (þessum)

My and your in the dative (mínum, þínum)

Numbers 1 to 4 in the dative (einum, tveimur)

Adjectives in the dative singular (-um, -ri, -u)

Adjectives in the dative plural (-um)

Reflexive possessive in the accusative (sinn, sína, sitt)

Reflexive possessive in the dative (sínum, sinni)

Reflexive versus regular possessives (sinn, hans)

Demonstrative plural (þessir, þessar, þessi)

Definite genitive singular (-sins, -arinnar)

Indefinite genitive plural (-a)

Definite genitive plural (-anna)

Genitive prepositions (án, milli, vegna)

Prepositions of direction (yfir, undir, fyrir)

Prepositions of static location (yfir, undir, fyrir)

Question	Answer
to understand/gather (impersonal)	mér skilst
the development	þróunin
the technology	tæknin
I hear that the development in technology is very fast now.	Mér skilst að þróunin í tækninni sé mjög hröð núna.
the speaker (lecturer/presenter)	fyrirlesarinn
informative	upplýsandi
I hear that the speaker is always very informative.	Mér skilst að fyrirlesarinn sé alltaf mjög upplýsandi.
the increase (in quantity or amount)	aukningin
the automation	sjálfvirknin
the artificial intelligence	gervigreindin
I understand that there is a great increase in automation due to artificial intelligence.	Mér skilst að það sé mikil aukning í sjálfvirkni vegna gervigreindar.
professional	faglegur
the network	tengslanetið
I hear that it is important to build a professional network.	Mér skilst að það sé mikilvægt að byggja upp faglegt tengslanet.
the benefit	ávinningurinn
I gather that the speaker has already explained the great benefits.	Mér skilst að fyrirlesarinn sé búinn að útskýra mikinn ávinning.
I understand that artificial intelligence is being developed for automation.	Mér skilst að það sé verið að þróa gervigreind fyrir sjálfvirkni.
We are at the conference where the speakers share their experience.	Við erum á ráðstefnunni þar sem fyrirlesararnir deila reynslunni.
The presentation was informative and showed a great increase in profit.	Kynningin var upplýsandi og sýndi mikla aukningu í hagnaði.
I gather that it is unprofessional to talk a lot at the meeting.	Mér skilst að það sé ófaglegt að tala mikið á fundinum.
I hear that the new software will increase efficiency.	Mér skilst að nýi hugbúnaðurinn muni auka skilvirknina.
Was the presentation about artificial intelligence informative?	Var kynningin um gervigreind upplýsandi?
The development in artificial intelligence is very exciting.	Þróunin í gervigreind er mjög spennandi.
I understand that the networking is important.	Mér skilst að tengslanetið sé mikilvægt.
I understand that the technology increases the benefit.	Mér skilst að tæknin auki ávinninginn.
I understand that the company intends to expand.	Mér skilst að fyrirtækið ætli að stækka.
I understand that the presentation starts soon.	Mér skilst að kynningin byrji bráðum.
I understand that artificial intelligence is popular now.	Mér skilst að gervigreindin sé vinsæl núna.
I understand that the project is exciting.	Mér skilst að verkefnið sé spennandi.