Breakdown of Það er mikilvægt að maður sötri ekki súpuna og noti munnþurrkuna.
vera
to be
og
and
það
it / there (existential) / the one (n)
ekki
not
nota
to use
súpan
the soup
að
that (conjunction)
mikilvægur
important
maður
one (impersonal pronoun)
sötra
to slurp
munnþurrkan
the napkin
Questions & Answers about Það er mikilvægt að maður sötri ekki súpuna og noti munnþurrkuna.
Why are the verbs sötri and noti in the subjunctive mood here?
The phrase Það er mikilvægt að (It is important that) expresses a necessity, judgment, or subjective opinion. This is a classic trigger for the subjunctive mood in Icelandic, which is why the verbs that follow it (sötri and noti) are in the subjunctive rather than the standard indicative.
How are the present subjunctive forms sötri and noti made?
Both að sötra (to slurp) and að nota (to use) are Group 1 weak verbs. To form the present subjunctive for the singular pronouns (like ég, þú, and maður), you take the verb stem and add -i. That gives us sötri and noti. A handy trick to remember: in the singular present subjunctive, the first, second, and third person forms are all identical!
Wait, doesn't maður usually mean 'man' or 'person'?
Yes, but it is also heavily used in Icelandic as the generic pronoun 'one' or 'you' (as in 'one should not slurp'). When making general rules or statements that apply to anyone, maður is the go-to word. Because it is grammatically a singular noun, it triggers the third-person singular verb forms.
Why do the words súpuna and munnþurrkuna end in -una?
Both súpa (soup) and munnþurrka (napkin) are weak feminine nouns. They are the direct objects of their respective verbs, so they take the accusative case (súpu and munnþurrku). The -na at the end is the feminine accusative attached definite article ('the'), making them súpuna (the soup) and munnþurrkuna (the napkin).
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