Breakdown of Við förum ekki í einkasamkvæmið nema fötin séu formleg.
vera
to be
ekki
not
við
we
fara
to go
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
fötin
the clothes
nema
except, unless
einkasamkvæmið
the private party
formlegur
formal
Questions & Answers about Við förum ekki í einkasamkvæmið nema fötin séu formleg.
Why does this sentence use séu instead of the regular present tense eru?
The word nema (meaning "unless") introduces a condition or an exception. In Icelandic, nema almost always forces the verb in its clause into the subjunctive mood, because it describes a hypothetical situation rather than a stated fact. That's why we use the subjunctive séu instead of the indicative eru.
Where does the form séu come from?
It is the present subjunctive form of the verb vera (to be) for the 3rd-person plural (they/þau). In the present subjunctive, vera conjugates as séum for við, séuð for þið, and séu for þeir/þær/þau. Since fötin (the clothes) is a plural noun, we use séu.
Why do we use the accusative case for einkasamkvæmið after í, instead of the dative?
The preposition í takes the accusative case when it describes movement toward a destination (going to or into the party). If the sentence were describing a static location—like "We are at the private party"—í would take the dative case (í einkasamkvæminu).
Why doesn't the adjective formleg have a typical ending like -legur or -legt?
The adjective must agree in gender and number with the noun it describes, fötin (the clothes). Föt is a neuter plural noun. In the nominative case, adjectives describing a neuter plural noun take no extra ending, so the base adjective formlegur simply drops the -ur to become formleg.
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