Breakdown of Það er borðað vel þegar hefðbundið slátur er á borðinu.
vera
to be
borðið
the table
það
it / there (existential) / the one (n)
borða
to eat
vel
well
á
onto / on / in (static location) / on (a day of the week)
þegar
when
hefðbundinn
traditional
slátrið
the blood pudding
Questions & Answers about Það er borðað vel þegar hefðbundið slátur er á borðinu.
Why does this sentence use Það er borðað instead of just saying Fólk borðar?
This is the impersonal passive, which is the focus of this lesson. By using the dummy word Það (it) with the verb vera (to be) and the neuter singular past participle borðað (eaten), it makes a general statement. It puts the focus entirely on the action of eating heartily, rather than on who specifically is holding the fork.
Why does the adjective hefðbundið end in -ið here?
It describes the noun slátur (blood pudding), which is a neuter noun. Because slátur is the subject of the second clause, it is in the nominative case. The adjective must agree with it, so hefðbundinn (traditional) changes to its neuter singular nominative form, hefðbundið.
Since slátur literally means slaughter, how does it mean blood pudding here?
While the word slátur does literally translate to 'slaughter', in an Icelandic culinary context it refers specifically to traditional foods made from sheep innards at slaughtering time, such as blood pudding and liver sausage. When it is on the table, it is always the food, not the act!
Why do we use the dative case for borðinu after the preposition á?
The preposition á takes the dative case when describing a stationary position or location, like resting on a table. It would only take the accusative if there were active movement toward the table. The -inu ending makes the neuter dative noun definite, giving us 'on the table'.
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