Breakdown of Það er mikið drukkið í gleðskapnum en ekki drekka brennivínið!
vera
to be
en
but
það
it / there (existential) / the one (n)
ekki
not
mikið
a lot
drekka
to drink
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
gleðskapurinn
the revelry
brennivínið
the aquavit
Questions & Answers about Það er mikið drukkið í gleðskapnum en ekki drekka brennivínið!
Why does the sentence use Það er mikið drukkið instead of just saying "fólk drekkur mikið"?
This is the impersonal passive. Icelandic uses the dummy subject Það + the verb vera (to be) + a neuter singular past participle (here, drukkið) to describe a general action happening without specifying who is doing it. It translates naturally to "people drink a lot" or "there is a lot of drinking."
Since drekka usually takes an object, how can it form an impersonal passive here?
While drekka is normally a transitive verb (it takes an object, like brennivínið later in the sentence), the first clause focuses purely on the action itself. When the object is omitted, the verb acts intransitively and can form an impersonal passive to describe a general activity.
Why is gleðskapnum in the dative case after the preposition í?
The preposition í governs the dative case when it indicates being stationary or participating in an ongoing event or location (in the revelry). If the sentence described movement into the event, it would take the accusative case.
Why does the command say ekki drekka using the infinitive, instead of the imperative form drekktu?
In everyday Icelandic, negative commands are normally formed with ekki plus the infinitive of the verb. Using the imperative form in a negative command (like ekki drekktu) is incorrect, so ekki drekka is the standard way to say "do not drink!"
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