Breakdown of Ef teikningin er góð verður nýbyggingin samþykkt.
vera
to be
góður
good
verða
to become; will be
ef
if
samþykkja
to accept
teikningin
the drawing
nýbyggingin
the new building
Questions & Answers about Ef teikningin er góð verður nýbyggingin samþykkt.
Why do we use verður instead of er in the second part of the sentence?
This is the dynamic passive voice. Using verður (from verða, meaning to become or will be) shows that an action is going to happen in the future or that a change of state is occurring. If we said er samþykkt, it would mean the building is already approved, rather than something that will happen as a result of a good drawing.
Why is the verb verður right next to góð instead of putting the subject first?
This is a great example of the V2 (verb-second) rule in action. The entire if-clause (Ef teikningin er góð) counts as the first block of information in the main sentence. Because the main verb must always be in the second position, verður has to come immediately after the comma, pushing the subject (nýbyggingin) further back.
Why does the past participle samþykkt end with a -t?
In Icelandic, when you form a passive sentence, the past participle acts like an adjective and has to agree with the subject in gender, number, and case. The subject here is nýbyggingin, which is a feminine, singular noun in the nominative case. The matching feminine singular form of the past participle for the verb samþykkja is samþykkt.
Why is it góð and not góður?
The adjective góð is describing teikningin (the drawing). Because teikningin is a feminine noun, the adjective must take the feminine singular form, which is góð. If the noun were masculine, we would use góður.
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