Breakdown of Því stærri sem fjárfestingin er, því meiri er áhættan.
vera
to be
sem
who / which / that
stærri
bigger
meira
more
því
the (in 'the more... the more')
fjárfestingin
the investment
áhættan
the risk
Questions & Answers about Því stærri sem fjárfestingin er, því meiri er áhættan.
Why is the word sem used in the first half of the sentence but not the second?
In Icelandic, the first part of a því... því... (the more... the more...) sentence acts as a relative clause setting up a condition. You can think of Því stærri sem as 'The bigger that...'. The second half is the main clause giving the result, so it does not need sem.
Why is the word order er áhættan in the second clause instead of áhættan er?
This happens because of the V2 (verb-second) rule. The phrase því meiri takes up the first position in this main clause. Therefore, the verb er must come second, pushing the subject áhættan (the risk) into the third position.
How do the comparative adjectives stærri (bigger) and meiri (more) match their nouns here?
Even in the comparative form, adjectives must agree with the gender of the noun. Both fjárfestingin (the investment) and áhættan (the risk) are feminine singular nouns. In the comparative degree, masculine and feminine adjectives end in -i (like stærri), while neuter adjectives end in -a (like stærra).
What does the word því literally mean outside of this 'the more... the more' construction?
Því is the dative case of the pronoun það (it). In this structure, it is used to show a proportion or degree, essentially meaning 'by that amount'. Literally, the sentence is saying: 'By that much bigger that the investment is, by that much more is the risk.'
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