Breakdown of Konan í móttökunni sagði að línan væri upptekin.
vera
to be
konan
the woman
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
að
that (conjunction)
segja
to say
upptekinn
busy
línan
the line
móttakan
the reception
Questions & Answers about Konan í móttökunni sagði að línan væri upptekin.
Why is the verb væri used here instead of var?
This is the core rule of reported speech in Icelandic. When you report what someone said using að (that) and the main verb (sagði) is in the past tense, the verb inside the að clause must be in the past subjunctive mood. The past subjunctive of vera (to be) for it is væri.
What were the woman's actual words before they were turned into reported speech?
She originally said Línan er upptekin (The line is busy). When we report her words after a past-tense verb, the present indicative er backshifts to the past subjunctive væri.
Why does the word for busy end in -in (upptekin) rather than -ið (upptekið)?
Adjectives always have to agree with the noun they describe in gender, number, and case. Línan (the telephone line) is a feminine noun. Because we are describing one feminine thing in the nominative case, the base adjective upptekinn changes to its feminine singular form, upptekin.
Why is móttökunni in the dative case here?
The preposition í takes the dative case when it describes a fixed location where something is happening. Because the woman is physically located in the reception, the feminine noun móttakan (the reception) takes its dative form with the definite article attached: móttökunni.
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